WALLKILL, N.Y. — Wallkill High School graduate Max Grafe, 18, began taking piano lessons at Vincitore's Yamaha Music School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. at four years old. Just a few short weeks ago, Grafe was honored as the recipient of the 2007 Morton Gould American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award for his original composition, Mural for Piano Quartet.

2007 ASCAP Young Composers Award Winner Max Grafe

The ASCAP awards program honors the late Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and former ASCAP Foundation President Morton Gould's lifelong commitment to encouraging young creators during the earliest stages of their careers. In addition to a cash prize, Grafe was recognized at the annual ASCAP Concert Music Awards at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater in New York City on May 24.

"Winning this award felt life-affirming," says Grafe. "I feel like I really accomplished something as a high school student, and did something valuable with my education."

While Grafe is a highly developed pianist and bassoonist, with a long history of professional study from an early age, composing is his passion. Though he will be attending Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music this September, where he was recently awarded the highest scholarship to an undergraduate composition major in the school's history, Grafe only recently began to study formally, entering the Mannes College of Music Preparatory Division at The New School in the fall of 2005.

Though Grafe left Vincitore's Yamaha Music School at the age of 10 for solo-centered study, the school's Director, Cheryl Wherry, says his achievement comes as no surprise. "Even at four years old, Max had very definite ideas about music."

The course that Grafe was enrolled in at Vincitore's Yamaha Music School was a "Junior Music Course" for children ages four and five years-old that focuses on music composition as one of its primary goals. Though not all children continue this interest as Grafe did, the program helps students recognize pitches, music patterns and musical instruments. Once children can play harmony as well as melody, they learn to create variations of melodies, harmonies and accompaniment styles. By the time students graduate into the third year "extension" course by ages six and seven, they can easily make up their own melodies and have all the resources to complete their own compositions. "With no limit to children's imaginations or restriction on their styles, their creations can be quite impressive," says Wherry. "Max expressed his own style at a very early age."

Since the Yamaha Music School program was started in Japan over 50 years ago, more than 6,000,000 students have graduated from the program worldwide. Many have gone on to professional careers in music, including Ayako Uehara, winner of the Tchaikovsky piano competition. The Yamaha Music School program is widely regarded for its success not only in cultivating the ability of young children, but also in inspiring a lifelong love and commitment to active music participation.

"Ever since I began studying piano, I would sit down and play whatever came into my head, and that was the first instance I had with composing," says Grafe. "Over the years, this ability just continued to develop."

Grafe describes his composition as a "pastiche of different styles" with neo-classicism, jazz and minimalist roots. Russian composer Igor Stravinsky is his greatest influence, and he also favors Paul Hindemith and Steve Michael Reich. When it comes to jazz, Grafe loves Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. More contemporary musical groups including Steely Dan and The Who have also worked their harmonious influences. But it's modern day composer Paul Moravec, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Music, whom Grafe identifies with the most.

At Mannes, Max was member of the Honors Program in both composition and bassoon. The young composer and musician has twice attended Boston University's Tanglewood Institute, and appeared with the Loki Wind Quintet on NPR's From the Top.

Max also has a special passion for wind instrument writing: his Wind Quintet No. 1 was a finalist in last year's ASCAP Morton Gould competition, and his first work for wind orchestra, Fantasia on an Irish Folk Tune, won first place in the first annual New York State Band Directors' Association composition contest last fall.

When he's not composing or playing piano and bassoon, Grafe likes to play computer video games and write short prose. After two summers playing at different music festivals, Grafe is taking some well deserved time off before starting at Indiana University. "I'm taking time for myself. I need to get down to business and write some things."

For more information, please write to Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600, or telephone (714) 522-9011.