Alex Sjobeck
Alex Sjobeck is a nationally recognized jazz pianist and composer whose music has been featured on PBS stations across the U.S. and in short films with millions of views. Her distinctive sound, described as “the combination of Post-Impressionistic painting, a jigsaw puzzle, childhood, and groove”, blends modern jazz with pop, world music, and cinematic storytelling.
Her latest album, Pictures in Time, was included on the Nominating Ballot for the 2023 GRAMMY Awards and praised by All About Jazz and Contemporary Fusion Reviews, among others. The short dance film Silhouette, set entirely to her original music, aired nationally on PBS, won “Best Performance” at the Experimental, Dance, & Music Film Festival, and was a finalist at the California Music Video Awards. The composition was also named a semi-finalist in both the “Jazz” and “Music Video” categories of the International Songwriting Competition 2024. Another short film she scored, Butter Lover, has received over 13 million views on YouTube. In September of 2025, she became a recipient of the Pathways to Jazz grant for an upcoming release.
Sjobeck has performed at premier venues and festivals across the country, including Smalls Jazz Club (NYC), Dazzle (Denver), The Velvet Note (Atlanta), The 1905 (Portland), The Royal Room (Seattle), the Gene Harris Jazz Festival, the UNC•Greeley Jazz Festival, and the Commencement Bay Jazz Festival. She was also selected for the Jazz Education Network’s Young Composers Showcase, where she performed her original duo piece Blue Light at the 2023 JEN Conference in Orlando.
Beyond her performing career, Sjobeck is a passionate advocate for jazz education and community involvement. In 2025, she co-founded Lala’s Jazz, a Boise-based nonprofit dedicated to presenting and promoting jazz music and education. She is also on faculty at Boise State University and directs the Gene Harris All-Stars Jazz Program, a role for which she received the 2025 Boise City Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Arts Education.
Sjobeck began her academic journey on scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music and later served as a teaching assistant while earning her master’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado’s renowned jazz program.
"Sjobeck has an intimate touch and classical disposition on her instrument that is striking in its intricate and expressive clarity."
— Mike Jurkovic, All About Jazz
"They have defined their own voice in the duo idiom, blurring the lines of tradition and avant-garde and bringing new fans to the art form who otherwise may not have sought it out."
— Nick Finzer, Outside in Music