Jae Alexander
Jae Alexander is a British conductor, musical director and musical supervisor with over 40 years of experience in West End theatre, concert performance and international musical productions. He is Principal Conductor of the English National Orchestra and co-founder of The WestEnders vocal group. In the early 1990s he was one of the founding figures of West End Cares, the theatre industry's HIV/AIDS fundraising organisation, providing musical direction for the charity cabaret events organised by Dursley McLinden and Jill Nalder at Smith's restaurant in Covent Garden.
Career
Alexander has worked across more than four decades as musical director, musical supervisor and conductor in major West End productions. His theatre credits include:
- Cats (New London Theatre)
- Crazy for You (Prince Edward Theatre)
- West Side Story (Her Majesty's Theatre)
- Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Dominion Theatre) — Original London Cast recording
- Oliver! (London Palladium)
- Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre)
- Grand Hotel
- Fiddler on the Roof (Savoy Theatre)
- South Pacific (Barbican)
- 42nd Street (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
- Sister Act (Eventim Apollo)
- Follies, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Privates on Parade
He has worked with producers and creatives including Cameron Mackintosh, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Disney, Michael Grandage, Sam Mendes and Susan Stroman. Productions have toured and transferred internationally to Australia, the United States, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Taiwan, Holland and Singapore.
Concert and orchestral work
Alexander is Principal Conductor of the English National Orchestra and has conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, among others. He conducted the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Television work includes BBC concerts recorded at the Royal Albert Hall and series for BBC Wales and S4C.
The WestEnders
Alexander co-founded The WestEnders, an internationally touring vocal group drawn from the West End musical theatre community.
Film
His film credits include My Policeman (2022), directed by Michael Grandage.
Awards
- 1993 – Best New Musical: Crazy for You
- 1998 – Best New Musical: Disney's Beauty and the Beast
- 2005 – Outstanding Musical Production: Grand Hotel
- 2006 – Outstanding Musical Production: Guys and Dolls
West End Cares
During the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Alexander became one of the founding forces behind West End Cares, the charitable fundraising initiative that grew into the Make a Difference Trust. Working alongside actor Dursley McLinden — who had been diagnosed HIV-positive in 1990 and was himself a member of the The Phantom of the Opera company — and Jill Nalder, Alexander provided musical direction for the fundraising cabaret nights at Smith's restaurant in Covent Garden that drew on the talent of the West End community. These events were among the earliest sustained LGBT HIV/AIDS fundraising efforts in the British theatre industry.