In 2004 Dr. ALEXANDER JIMÉNEZ became the fourth director of orchestral activities since 1922 at the Florida State University College of Music. He came to FSU in 2000 as associate director of orchestras and assistant professor of conducting. At that time he led the inaugural season of the University Philharmonia, FSU’s undergraduate orchestra. Within a short time, the University Philharmonia went on a successful tour throughout Florida and collaborated with award-winning composer, Jeff Beal, in performing a commissioned new score to accompany Buster Keaton’s silent film classic, The General. This score was later added to a new DVD of the film. Most recently, Dr. Jiménez led the University Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with composer Ellen Zwilich in a televised performance of Zwilich’s Peanuts Gallery which aired nationally on PBS and was awarded “Best Performance of 2007” by the National Educational Television Association. Since becoming director of orchestral activities, Dr. Jiménez serves as music director of the University Philharmonia and the University Symphony Orchestra, and oversees a successful graduate orchestral conducting program. Dr. Jiménez’s students have been selected to participate in workshops and conducting opportunities throughout the United States and in Europe.

Dr. Jiménez has served as director of orchestras and instrumental music on the faculties of Palm Beach Atlantic College and San Francisco State University. In demand as a guest conductor and adjudicator, he has conducted honor and university orchestras, and adjudicated orchestra festivals throughout the United States. In 1997, Dr. Jiménez made his debut in the Merkin Recital Hall in New York City in a premiere performance of Clare Shore’s Trinity with members of the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra and the new-music ensemble EKKO! He has collaborated with such noted composers as Martin Bresnick, John Harbison, Ladislav Kubik, Chen Yi, and Krysztof Penderecki. He has also collaborated with soloists and ensembles as diverse as Denyce Graves, Bobby McFerrin, the Canadian Brass, and NEXUS.

A professional percussionist for over two decades, Dr. Jiménez served as principal timpanist with the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, Palm Beach Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Music Festival of Santo Domingo with members of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. He studied with Gary Werdesheim, Larry Vanlandingham, Keiko Abe, and Cloyd Duff. Dr. Jiménez’s principal conducting teachers were Phillip Spurgeon and Michael Haithcock. He also has studied with Larry Rachlef, Christopher Wilkins, and Anton Guadagno.

Active in the music community, Dr. Jiménez serves as Vice President of the College Orchestra Directors Association (CODA). He is a charter member of CODA and holds memberships in the Music Educators National Conference, the Florida Orchestra Association, and the American Symphony Orchestra League. He has served as a grant panelist for the Florida State Division of Cultural Affairs. Dr. Jiménez is also music director of the Tallahassee Symphony Youth Orchestra, an organization with six ensembles and nearly 200 students.