He is currently professor of cello at the Bremen Hochschule and previously taught at Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as at various summer schools in the UK and Europe.
Alexander was born in Stockport, England, and started learning the cello at the late age of twelve, after having been inspired by seeing Jacqueline du Pré perform.
He advanced very quickly and gained a place at the Royal College of Music at the age of 16, studying 'cello under Anna Shuttleworth and Joan Dickson.
He has been a soloist at the BBC Proms numerous times, having performed the Schumann, Delius and Beethoven Triple Concertos, as well as various premieres of contemporary works.
At the BBC Proms, he gave debut performances of Colin Matthews' Concerto in 1984, Henze's "Sieben Liebeslieder" in 1988 under the composer's direction, and Takemitsu's "Orion and Pleiades" in 1989.