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Alex Petcu is an Irish percussionist of Romanian origin, based in Cork, where he is an assistant lecturer in percussion at the MTU Cork School of Music. He is a core member of Crash Ensemble, with whom he has performed in Ireland, the USA, Lithuania and France and recorded most of the ensemble's albums, including Barry O'Halpin's Wingform and Free State, on which he is the soloist in Dónal Sarsfield's The Snare Piece. He is musical director of Bangers and Crash Percussion and a regular player with orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Irish Chamber Orchestra.

He works closely with composers and has commissioned and premiered a substantial body of new music. With violist Nathan Sherman, he has recorded the albums Totemic (Ergodos) and Archetypes (Diatribe) and premiered a major new work by Kevin Volans at Music for Galway in 2025. His solo album In Time was released on RTÉ lyric fm.

Alex was named Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year in 2013 and was the National Concert Hall's Rising Star in 2015. He also writes for percussion, including two percussion sextets, written and premiered with Arts Council support.

Alex Petcu is an Irish percussionist of Romanian origin, based in Cork, where he is an assistant lecturer in percussion at the MTU Cork School of Music. His work centres on new music. He is a core member of Crash Ensemble, with whom he has performed in Ireland, the USA and Lithuania and at Festival Musica in Strasbourg, taken part in many world premieres and recorded most of the ensemble's albums, including Barry O'Halpin's hour-long Wingform and Free State, on which he is the soloist in Dónal Sarsfield's The Snare Piece. He is also musical director of Bangers and Crash Percussion, a regular guest with Belfast's Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble and an extra player with orchestras across Ireland, including the National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Irish Baroque Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra.

Alex enjoys working closely with composers, and has commissioned or premiered works by Sam Perkin, Donnacha Dennehy, Kevin Volans, Ian Wilson, Kate Moore, Ann Cleare, Benjamin Dwyer, Nick Roth, Siobhán Cleary and Brian Irvine, among others, many of them with violist Nathan Sherman. The duo's albums Totemic (Ergodos) and Archetypes (Diatribe) present much of this music, and in 2025 they gave the world premiere of Volans's y Escucho a los Muertos con mis Ojos at Music for Galway. His solo album In Time, released on RTÉ lyric fm, mixes seminal percussion works with transcriptions and new pieces.

As a soloist he has appeared with both RTÉ orchestras and at festivals and venues including the West Cork Chamber Music Festival and the National Concert Hall, and gave the premiere of Sam Perkin's Waves, written for him, with the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 2017. He was a semi-finalist at the Tromp International Percussion Competition in 2010 and 2012, was named Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year in 2013, and was the National Concert Hall's Rising Star in 2015. His theatre and opera work includes the Abbey Theatre's Twelfth Night, Irish National Opera's Powder Her Face and Gare St Lazare Ireland's The Last Tape.

Alex also composes for percussion. His works include Sextet No. 1, written with an Arts Council bursary and premiered at the Cork Midsummer Festival in 2021; Up (Sextet No. 2), premiered on a 2024 tour of Ireland with Bangers and Crash, supported by an Arts Council touring award; and the trio Cross | Paths, with support from an Arts Council bursary and Music Network.

Alex is an assistant lecturer in percussion at the MTU Cork School of Music. He has given lecture recitals at universities around Ireland and leads workshops for schools, including for West Cork Music's Tuning Up outreach scheme and Music Network. He holds an MA in music performance from the MTU Cork School of Music, and a BSc and MSc in physics from University College Cork.