Alexander Ostrovsky (August 6, 1937 – August 3, 2015) was a prominent American piano technician and expert concert tuner of Russian descent, known for his meticulous craftsmanship and restoration skills. Born in Leningrad, USSR, he was the nephew of the esteemed Soviet composer [Arkady Ostrovsky](https://discogs.com/artist/805291). From 1984 to 1990, Ostrovsky served as the primary piano technician for [Leonard Bernstein](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103), maintaining the maestro's collection of [Baldwin](https://discogs.com/label/239026) and [Bösendorfer](https://discogs.com/label/1552345) pianos. His expertise extended to numerous renowned artists, including Hungarian pianist [György Sándor](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103), [Samuel Sanders](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103), who accompanied [Itzhak Perlman](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103), and other notable figures such as [Franz Rupp](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103), [Earl Wild](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103), [John Corigliano](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103), and [Richard Goode](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103). Ostrovsky was also responsible for the restoration of John Lennon’s iconic white [Hamburg Steinway](https://discogs.com/label/535142) "Model A" concert grand and contributed to the pianos featured in several films directed by [Spike Lee](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103), including the 1989 movie Do the Right Thing. His son, Lev Ostrovsky (b. 1964), is a composer, concert pianist, and educator currently based in San Francisco, California.

Ostrovsky hailed from a notable Jewish musical family in Syzran, located in the mid-Volga region of the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire. His grandfather, Ilya Ilyich Ostrovsky, owned a music shop and led the local Jewish Assembly. With a keen ear for pitch and natural talent on the piano, Ilya became a piano tuner in 1918 and later moved to Saint Petersburg (then Petrograd), where he served as the chief instrument technician at the [Leningrad Conservatory](https://discogs.com/label/1513139). According to a July 1997 article in Stereophile magazine, Alexander's parents were Benjamin, who continued the family legacy as a piano tuner and amateur restorer, and Eugenia Ostrovsky, a pianist, musicologist, and choral conductor. The same article mentions his well-known uncles, [Arkadiy Ostrovsky](https://discogs.com/artist/805291) (1914–1967) and [Rafail Ilyich Ostrovsky](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103) (1905–1989), both skilled piano technicians. Alexander's third uncle, Jacob, immigrated to the United States after the 1917 revolution and opened a piano showroom in Manhattan, becoming Yamaha's first North American dealer. Following World War II, Alexander studied at a local music college in Leningrad and later enrolled at the Leningrad Conservatory, where he earned his Master's degree in 1962. He subsequently began teaching and worked as a piano technician at the Conservatory.

In the mid-1970s, after the landmark May 1972 agreements between [Richard Nixon](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103) and [Leonid Brezhnev](https://discogs.com/artist/2007346), which ushered in a significant wave of Russian-Jewish émigrés, Alexander Ostrovsky sought an exit visa from the USSR. This process was fraught with challenges, as applicants were often regarded as "persona non grata." As a result, Ostrovsky lost his positions at the state-funded Leningrad Conservatory. Ultimately, he had to bribe officials and relinquish his "dacha" (country house) to secure exit visas for himself, his wife Eugenia N. Ostrovsky (b. 1939), and their young son. In 1979, the family left the Soviet Union, traveling through Austria before settling in Italy, where Alexander continued his work as a concert tuner. Although he was offered a position at a music school in Tel Aviv by a touring Israeli pianist, the family chose to relocate to the United States at the urging of his son Lev. They eventually settled in New York, where Lev studied under [Nadia Reisenberg](https://discogs.com/artist/1960103) at the [Juilliard School](https://discogs.com/label/1513139). Alexander continued his career in New York City for many years before retiring in New Jersey.