The Moldovian-born American pianist, Alexander Paley, began playing the piano at age 6, gave his first recital in Kishinev in April 1969 (at age 13), and at age 16 won the National Competition of Moldova. Subsequently, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Bella Davidovich and Vera Gornostayeva, completing his graduate work there in 1981. He went on to win major awards, including including First Prize in the Leipzig International Bach Competition in 1984, followed by an invitation from Kurt Masur to accompany the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; the 1986 Bosendorfer Prize; Grand Prix at the first International Pancho Vladigerov Competition in Bulgaria, also in 1986; Grand Prix Young Artist Debut, New York in 1988; and 1st Prize at Aiex de Vries Prize, Belgium in 1990. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Alexander+Paley">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.