Born in Kishinev, in Moldavia, in 1956, Alexander Paley had his first musical training in his native town, where he attended the School of Music, giving his first concert when he was thirteen and three years later winning the Moldavian National Music Competition.

He later studied at the Moscow Conservatory, where his teachers included Bella Davidovich and Vera Gornstayeva, completing his course there in 1981. His subsequent concert career took him to major musical centres throughout Eastern Europe, and in France, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Spain, with distinguished awards in important international competitions. In 1988 he emigrated to the United States and with a repertoire of some thirty concertos and solo piano works ranging from Scarlatti to Bartok has continued his international career, now winning the highest acclaim also from American critics.