John Alexander writes: "I composed 'the apricot tree' especially for Julia Perova to include in a recital programme for her post-graduate studies. She had been looking for something from Armenia, a culture she admires, but could find nothing suitable. I did some research, to get a feel of their music, found two or three Armenian folk songs I liked and played around with some of their elements. I also discovered that the traditional instrument of Armenia is a duduk, the sound of which I love enormously. I further discovered that this instrument is made from the wood of an apricot tree, the fruit of which I also enjoy, and that the duduk's music consistently contained free, elaborate melodic embellishments and long chant-like passages. So I put some of those things together to make this piece and sent it off to Julia. It was just what she had been looking for - and she loved it."

'the apricot tree' was premiered by Julia Perova at Astrakhan Music Academy (Astrakhan, Russia) on Thursday 28 November 2013.

John Alexander was born in West Sussex in 1942 and began to compose at the age of 20. At the time he discovered a fascination for art, literature, dance, architecture and sculpture and these topics, along with mathematics, have continued to have a bearing on his work. He studied composition with Edmund Rubbra at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and later with Jonathan Harvey and Peter Wiegold at the University of Sussex.

John Alexander has never been a prolific composer, but an impressive and growing body of work reflects a rare eye for detail and structure - each work beautifully crafted and reworked until every inflection, detail and nuance is perfect. Probably best described as a miniaturist, he writes in a fluent, independent and strongly personal style with an intense desire to create music which communicates to both performer and audience alike.

In 1999 John Alexander won the 1st BIBF Composition Contest and was invited to be a judge for several BIBF competitions. He was a featured composer at Bass-Fest 2001, was an spnm short-listed composer for three years, and was Composer-in-residence at the 2004 Rotterdam Conservatoire Double Bass Weekend, Bass-Fest 2006 and 2007 Wells Double Bass Weekend. His works have been performed and broadcast throughout the world and he was written an impressive and unique body of work for double bass.