MEET THE DIRECTORS
BARRY ALEXANDER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Barry Alexander is the author of The Classical Musician: Getting and Keeping the Career You Want, a book which he co-wrote with Cosmo Buono. He is Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Alexander & Buono International (ABI), the parent company of The Alexander & Buono Competitions (ABC) and The Alexander and Buono Festival of Music. The company was founded after Mr. Alexander, a former public relations executive, was hired by Cosmo Buono to promote the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, which began in 2003.
Mr. Alexander is a graduate of Princeton University and the Hochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He began his musical career at age three, and gave his first recital at age four. His rapid advancement through various private schools as an elementary student led to him starting his university career at age fourteen, and receiving his Bachelor’s of Arts degree at eighteen.
Upon completing his graduate studies in Theology and English Literature, he auditioned for the Mozarteum and was accepted immediately. Focusing on lieder by Mozart and Schubert, he began to make progress in an operatic career as a lyric baritone, performing recitals throughout Europe. In 1978 he was invited by the American Embassy and Ambassador John Gunther Dean to sing concerts in Beirut, Lebanon, in conjunction with the American University at Beirut, and Afif Bulos, the voice teacher and musicologist, with whom Alexander studied while at Princeton. This led to engagements in the United States, Europe and Africa, and helped to establish Alexander as a fine interpreter of Mozart and some of the more ornate repertoire of Händel and Rossini.
After many years of performing in Europe, Alexander returned to the United States, where he joined the Michigan Opera Theatre, and also continued to sing recitals. It was during this time he made his Carnegie Hall Recital debut with works by Mozart and Gluck, in addition to lieder, also performing the entire motet Exsultate, jubilate, and the aria “Fuor del mar” from Idomeneo, considered by some to be among the most challenging works in the coloratura literature.
Alexander concluded his professional singing career after more than fifteen years, following an engagement as a principal singer with Poland’s Warsaw Chamber Opera. He then moved permanently to New York, where he worked briefly as a translator before starting his own public relations firm for classical musicians. It was during this time he met Cosmo Buono and formed their present partnership, which helps to support the work of classical musicians throughout the world, with annual competitions for Piano, Voice, Strings and Flute, and a music festival held each July in New York.
Alexander is also President of The Alexander & Buono Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation he helped to co-found in 2006, which raises money for scholarships and study grants for winners of ABC through The Annual ABC Gala, held each year at Carnegie Hall.
COSMO BUONO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Cosmo Buono first came to international prominence with the Bradshaw & Buono piano team. Specialists in literature written for one piano four hands, and two pianos, the artists did much to restore awareness of rare works written by Chopin, Liszt, Rossini, and Schubert. By continuing a tradition of distinguished piano duos begun with Liszt-Chopin and Debussy-Casella, they played in major capitals and festivals throughout the world including New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Mostly Mozart Festival, all while creating a discography that includes Grammy-nominated recordings.
A native of New Jersey, Mr. Buono completed his musical studies at New York University, Bard College, and The Juilliard School. As a soloist he has been heard in North America, Europe, and Japan, including performances with the Munich Philharmonic and the Danish State Radio Orchestra.
In addition to performing, Mr. Buono has distinguished himself as one of the foremost teachers of the Leschetizky Method in the United States. Leschetizky was known for producing pianists capable of a resonant, almost voice-like quality on the piano, and it is that same technique which is part of Mr. Buono’s overall pedagogy. Advocating rich, expressive playing, he discourages students from note-perfect performances that lack enthusiasm, in favor of a complete understanding and communication of the musical idiom of the composer.
Mr. Buono continues to direct the Bradshaw & Buono Conservatory, while supervising music schools in Italy and Japan. He is Artistic Director of the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, and a frequent collaborator with vocalists and instrumentalists for recitals. He also serves as the founder and Executive Director of The Alexander & Buono Festival of Music, which has been helping artists hone and perfect their performance skills for more than twenty years.
AN INTERVIEW WITH BARRY ALEXANDER
What made you decide to start the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition (BAIVC)?
One of my publicity clients is the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition. As my work with them became more involved, I found I was asked for advice on how they could expand the competition, as well as offer more to winners in the way of career guidance. Cosmo Buono, the competition’s Artistic Director, suggested that the same business model could be used to launch a vocal competition, and asked me if I would be interested in spearheading the effort. I was delighted with both the opportunity and the challenge, and thus decided to go ahead with the project.
The First Prize for the Barry Alexander is not a monetary one, rather the chance to perform in Carnegie Hall. Why is that?
Like Mr. Buono, I have spoken with many artists over the years who tell me they won major competitions, and a lot of prize money. It went for lessons, coachings, travel and auditions, and after all the money was spent, they were still without a career. Not enough artists understand that as classical musicians, they are businesses unto themselves, and have to manage their careers in just that way. I feel strongly that a performance at Carnegie Hall, as the winner of a competition, goes a long way toward giving a singer both cachet and artistic credibility, as well as a means of distinguishing one’s self among an ever-increasing array of singers. What’s more, we take an active interest in the careers of all the winners. Even for those who come in second place, we have them perform in other venues throughout New York, while helping them understand the responsibility—and obligation—to manage as much of their own careers as possible.
Further, we work very hard to nurture careers as best we can, in an effort to provide the greatest amount of exposure. Press releases go out to major newspapers throughout the world announcing all the winners; a commercial recording is made of the Winners’ Recital; a commemorative book is made featuring all the Winners. All of this is because we believe that a career is not just about having enough money, but also about intelligent, solid exposure that can lead to more and more engagements, as part of ultimately being able to support one’s self through music.
Is this why you have “The Business of Music” Seminars?
Exactly. It seems that too few singers know exactly how to start and sustain a career, and often make performance and repertoire choices that don’t serve them well in the long run. That’s why I think it’s very important to understand as many of the options and possibilities for the career as early as possible, in order to choose well. The panelists at the seminars are wise, seasoned business people who are aware of the many ways to advance one’s self in the world of classical music, while avoiding many of the pitfalls associated with pursuing a career.
Like the Bradshaw & Buono, the BAIVC chooses winners on the basis of recordings. Why have you chosen to go that route?
Many people will apply to a competition, and in addition to the expense of preparing the repertoire through lessons and coachings, if they are chosen to be a finalist, they still must incur the expenses of traveling to the finals and staying in hotels, all while perhaps never winning any prize money.
This is why the business model of the BAIVC is slightly different. We want to help defray some of the costs of applying by allowing singers to submit recordings that are then judged by a team of professional singers and musicians. A number of winners—not just one—are chosen from the three competition categories, so that once you come to New York to sing at Carnegie Hall, you already know you are coming as a winner.