Alexei Styrcha was a Moldavian composer, singer (baritone), and teacher. He was born on February 17, 1919, in Chisinau, Romania, and died on August 24, 1974, in Chisinau, Moldova. He was awarded the title Honored Artist of the Moldavian SSR in 1964.
A pupil of Leonid Gurov in composition, Styrcha combined active public work with a concert career. From 1958 to 1962 he served as executive secretary of the board of the Union of Composers of Moldova.
From 1960 he taught singing at the Chisinau Institute of Arts named after Musicescu, formerly the Chisinau Conservatory, and in 1971 he became an associate professor there. He also wrote music for stage productions and films.
Together with his colleague Pavel Rivilis, he compiled an anthology of Moldavian song. In Chisinau, an international vocal competition is held in his name.
Among his works are the opera The Heart of Domnica, first staged in 1960 in Chisinau and presented in a third version in 1970 under the title Heroic Ballad, the Ballad of the Violin, also known as Foreign Land, the Ode to Lenin, and the Poem about the Party.