Alexander Bickard, Double Bass

Alexander Bickard joins the double bass section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in Fall of 2025. Prior to this position, Alex has served as Principal Bass of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, Assistant Principal Bass of the New Jersey Symphony, Principal Bass of Opera Philadelphia, and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared as guest principal bass of The Knights, Philadelphia Ballet, and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.

As a chamber musician, Alex has collaborated with the Ariel and Fine Arts Quartets, including studio recordings on the Naxos label, and has been invited to perform at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Ravinia Festival. As the bassist of the International Sejong Soloists, he has participated in numerous international tours spanning three continents. 

Studying with Eugene Levinson and Timothy Cobb, Alex earned his Bachelor and Master degrees at the Juilliard School, where he won the double bass concerto competition. Festival appearances include the Spoleto, Tanglewood, Pacific and Castleton festivals. As an educator, Alex has been double bass faculty at Luzerne Music Center and the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra, has adjudicated orchestral auditions at Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music, and has guest taught at Juilliard Pre-College and Stony Brook University. He has also participated in Sphinx’s SOPA and NAAS programs, serving on the audition committee and teaching lessons and workshops hosted at the New World Center.  

Additional engagements include the house band of the Telluride Jazz Festival, on screen appearances in Netflix productions, soundtrack recordings for Disney+, and Principal Bass for the annual concerts at Madison Square Garden with Andrea Bocelli.