Alexander Bălănescu (Romanian pronunciation: [alekˈsander bələˈnesku]) (born 11 June 1954) is a Romanian violinist, and founder of the Balanescu Quartet. 　　Bălănescu was born in Bucharest, and at the age of seven went to the Special School for Music there. His teachers in Romania were Dolly Koritzer, Garabet Avakian and Stephan Gheorghiu. His studies continued at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem with Iair Kless, London’s Trinity College with Bela Katona, and from 1975-79 at the Juilliard School, New York with Dorothy DeLay, where he also took part in master classes with Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Felix Galimir and Robert Mann.