Alex Staropoli — born in Italy in 1970 — is Rhapsody of Fire's founding keyboard player and leader, and the member who kept the name and the continuity of the band after the 2011 split. His function in the group is broader than an ordinary keyboard player's. In the format the band created — power metal written as film score music, with real orchestra and choir — the keyboard is not accompaniment: it is the instrument that carries the symphonic arrangements, states the themes and bridges the orchestral score and the metal band. Much of the composition on the records starts from him. His training is classical, and that is audible: the harmonic progressions on Rhapsody's albums come from European concert music, not from rock, and that is what allows eight-minute tracks to sustain development without repeating a formula. When Luca Turilli left the group in 2011, it fell to Staropoli to lead the band alone. He rebuilt the line-up, kept the symphonic conception and went on releasing records regularly — Into the Legend (2016), The Eighth Mountain (2019), Glory for Salvation (2021) and Challenge the Wind (2024).
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