Alexander Curtis Reams (b. 2002)is a composer and musician from Long Beach, California, whose work merges vivid storytelling with emotional and cultural resonance. Reams draw inspiration from the shimmering color of Ravel, the rich harmonic language of jazz composers like Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, and William Grant Still, and the orchestral grandeur of Rimsky-Korsakov—all infused with the polyrhythmic complexity and spiritual energy of African diasporic traditions. His music crosses boundaries of genre while staying deeply grounded in historical and cultural lineage, resulting in a sound that is distinctly his own: soulful, imaginative, and unflinchingly authentic. Reams recently graduated from Biola University with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition: New Media and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. He studied composition with Robert Denham, Elliott Bark, and Johnathan David Neal; orchestration with Michael Watts; and saxophone with Bruce Babad. His development as a composer has also been enriched by masterclasses with Christopher Tin and Joel Balzun. In Fall 2025, Reams will begin his Master of Music in Composition at California State University, Long Beach. An active performer and multi-instrumentalist, Reams has performed on bass clarinet at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Inner-City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA), appearing in a program that included Rhapsody in Blue, Schindler’s List, selections from Porgy and Bess, and songs by and performed live by Kenny Lattimore. His work as an arranger is equally vibrant, notably including a major project adapting 23 original compositions by trumpeter and electronic jazz fusion artist Madd Galaxy(Mac Miller, Kamasi Washington, Brandon Coleman)for a mixed ensemble of woodwinds, brass, and strings. Reams’ original compositions have received multiple accolades from Biola University’s Conservatory of Music, including First Prize for his string quartet Inside the Contorted Mind, Third Prize for his woodwind quintet Coming Home to the House Over Yonder, and Third Prize for his orchestral work The North African Suite. In 2025, he was named a Finalist for the Missouri International Composers Festival, hosted by the Mizzou New Music Initiative. With a passion for creating music that is as visually evocative as it is emotionally deep, Reams crafts sonic landscapes that transport listeners to imagined worlds while illuminating the realities of identity and experience. Whether composing, arranging, or performing, his work is rooted in the belief that music should always serve the story being told.