Alex Baker is a viola da gamba player from San Luis Obispo, California. He completed his bachelor’s studies in both classical cello and German literature at Oberlin College. It was here that he began studying the viol and baroque cello with Catharina Meints. He went on to study cello with Richard Aaron at the University of Michigan, and in 2019, continued his viola da gamba studies at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague on a scholarship from Early Music America. He studied viola da gamba with Mieneke van der Velden, while researching diminution styles in viol literature from the Renaissance to Baroque eras. In 2019 he graduated with distinction with a Master of Early Music.
Alex is currently based in The Hague, where he works as a freelance artist. He plays throughout the Netherlands as a solo and chamber musician, and has performed or recorded with ensembles such as Vox Luminis, La Sfera Armoniosa, Noord Nederlands Orkest, and the Netherlands Bach Society (Nederlandse Bachvereniging). Most recently he has been on tour with Canadian mezzo-soprano Georgia Burshasko for Dutch Classical Talent, with a fusion program ranging from the Renaissance to contemporary repertoire.
Alex plays on a seven-string bass viol made by Luı́s Fernandez in 2017.
