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Greetings Fellow Music lovers! I’m thrilled to be a week out from another X Ensemble performance, this time as part of the Sound Studio Classical Series at the State Theater NJ in New Brunswick. We have been averaging about 1 concert every 2.5 years, and it’s no surprise given my other musical obligations. However, I can see a possible turning point – a larger concept, perhaps, that combines all the elements of my jazz-fusion ensemble NAIL, my work with electronic and ambient music, and the X Ensemble into a single highly flexible unit. A glimpse into what that might look like came in October 2024, when I staged a 50 year retrospective of my work with a 17-piece ensemble that included strings, winds, multiple drummers, percussionists and guitarists. That show was a success, leading me to rethink my musical universe which has always been made of separate components – perhaps “in unity lies strength”, as the saying goes. I will continue to ruminate on this further, as I plan shows for 2027 in which I’m hoping to include a small ensemble arrangement of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” that I’ve been working on (on and off) for quite a few years now.

Meanwhile, May 17^th is nearly upon us. We have completed our rehearsals, and all the essential musical edits have been completed. The 4-piece program includes ‘Cumberland Spring’ (2010), composed during the beginning of the 100 Years of Spring Tour and dedicated to flautist and world champion Pennywhistle player Tom Reese of Lancaster PA; a new arrangement of “Can we Dance the Earth? Can We Sing the Sky?” (2009) dedicated to the wonderful dance and ballet teacher Richard Cook who passed away in 2009 (I worked very closely with Richard for years at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. I composed this for his memorial service, and after that it was only performed one other time, in 2019); “In The Kitchen” a ¾ Latin Esque groove number which has been working well in multiple contexts (jazz trio, large ensemble, solo, piano trio etc.), and the premier of Shaker Song Variations: 8 variations on “Simple Gifts”, my first ‘theme and variations’ composition. Not a very long program, but one with many twists and turns, mood swings, and all the elements which I believe make for an entertaining performance.

 This is a trio performance, and I made what was for me a somewhat ‘radical’ decision to go with slightly unusual instrumentation: Piano, Violin and Baritone Saxophone. Partly because I happen to be good friends and neighbors with one of the greatest classical Baritone Saxophone players around, the wonderful Brad Hubbard, but also because this approach offers many opportunities to explore combinations of timbre. (2 of the pieces Brad will perform on flute.) The other player is of course the X Ensemble’s long-standing violinist and concert master Chern Hwei Fung. I could not ask for better players and I am profoundly grateful to them for their time and energy.

This is also a purely acoustic performance. In almost every other performance I have managed to include electronics; there was a 5^th piece planned where electronics might have been used but that composition has yet to be completed. The Sound Studio Series at State Theater NJ takes place in a smaller room off the main stage. The performance is at 3pm on Sunday May 17^th. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased via this link. Ever since I first fell in love with chamber music at age 11, I have wanted to pursue this avenue as a composer. This will be the X Ensemble’s 6^th performance. I hope you can join us.

Yours in Sound,

Neil Alexander

As of this writing, our last official performance was September 2023. I was invited by the vice president of The Wallkill River Center for the Arts my dear friend Judi Silvano to perform a handful of original works with strings. – I chose the piano trio format for this occasion. We performed 5 pieces, all original works. 2 X Ensemble works: Cumberland Spring (2012) rearranged, the 3rd movement from “Convergence: Sereis A” (The Dream). 2 pieces from the NAIL catalog – “In The Kitchen” and “Peasant’s Muse”, and an excerpt from an as yet unfinished suite called the ‘Duet Series’. I wrote new sections for Peasant’s Muse, and reworked both “in the Kitchen” and ‘Cumberland Spring”. I was joined by violinist (and the X Ensemble’s concertmaster) Fung Chern Hwei and the great cellist Leigh Stuart. The show went extremely well and was well attended.

Cumberland Spring Video:

Towards the end of 2024 I was asked by German based composer and friend Rainer Straschiel to participate (along with 2 other ensembles) in a sweeping project titled “MAX”, dedicated to the memory of his father. We had some difficulty with scheduling, but we finally secured a studio and recorded our tracks (3) in July 2025. The musicians here were once again the wonderful Leigh Stuart (cello) and Steven Frieder (clarinet). The music had a significant amount of improvisation written in, with the direction that the ensemble should make certian key decisions concerning the approach. It provided a most interesting challenge and Rainer was very happy with the result. The record should be available Spring 2026.

Last September I successfully mounted a large format performance celebrating my 50th year as a compser and performer. I assempled a 14 piece ensemble which included members of NAIL, the X Ensemble, Mr Gone and the Mahavishnu Project. I included compositions from every stage of my career with the earliest pieces composed in 1979/80 right up to new material from 2023. The sold out concert took place at the venerable Falcon in Marlboro NY, one of the great local Hudson Valley venues. There is an online photo gallery of the event here.

At he same time I was working off a grant from Arts Mid Hudson to create and perform a new series called “Piano Transformations“, a suite of new solo piano works in which I capture the sound of the piano and transform it in real time, making extensive use of digital audio processing.

I am slowly working on new material, and will probably use some of the techniques developed in my “Piano Transformations” series from last year.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading.

Yours in Sound,

– Neil Alexander

Greetings from the beautiful Hudson Valley, in not-quite-so upstate New York. There is much history here, and beyond the revolutionary war themed everything, there is a great history of Art here. The Hudson River School of painting started here; Washington Irving wrote his famous novels set in this area, and the Symphony for the New World of Dvorak sings of the grand vistas, lush green mountains and pristine waters.

Into this mix I humbly offer my voice. I have for many years created music here, in a tremendous variety of styles and purpose. But now at age 58 I wish to bring all the styles, sounds, textures and ideas that have thrilled me across my professional life under one “umbrella”, if you will. In a new, flexible context, one which will enable myself and other composers to reach for something a little different. And so I present to you, and to the world: The X Ensemble.?Using elements of Jazz, Ambient Music, Minimalism, Traditional Classical and much more, the X Ensemble finds new ways to bring commonalty to the diverse language of music.

Our premiere concert took place on October 16th 2016 in Newburgh NY, to a sold out crowd. The program featured original compositions in various styles, plus reworked music of Beethoven and Gershwin.