Bard College Student Wins Prestigious ASCAP Foundation Young Composer Award

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—Bard College senior Maxwell J. McKee ’13 is one of the recipients of the prestigious American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards for 2012. Each year ASCAP holds a national juried competition for gifted young composers under the age of 30. The competition is named in honor of the late Morton Gould, who was a gifted composer prodigy, an esteemed Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, and was a president of ASCAP. The winning young composers were recognized at the annual ASCAP Concert Music Awards at Merkin Concert Hall in New York.

McKee is a double major in biology and music at Bard College. For his Senior Project in music, he will be performing two full-length piano concerts and is writing an orchestral piece for the American Symphony Orchestra, to be premiered at Bard’s commencement concert in May 2014. At Bard, McKee has worked closely with composer Joan Tower (Asher B. Edelman Professor in the Arts) and pianist Blair McMillen (artist in residence). “These professors have gone far beyond the call of ordinary teacher-student duty to give me an incomparable education in these disciplines. It is a great honor to receive this national recognition,” says McKee.

ASCAP Foundation President Paul Williams said, “The ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards program provides recognition and cash awards to gifted young composers of concert music. There were 730 submissions this year and our dedicated jury selected 29 composers between the ages of 12 to 29. We congratulate the recipients and thank our ASCAP composer judges for their expertise in selecting this year’s gifted young creators, who represent the bright future of American Concert Music.”

The ASCAP composer/judges were Samuel Adler, Eve Beglarian, Yotam Haber, Tamar Muskal, Roberto Sierra, Augusta Read Thomas, and Randall Woolf.

About the Bard College Music Program
The Bard Music Program allows students to explore their talents for vocal and instrumental performance as well as composition through the modalities of classical, jazz, electronic, experimental, world music, and historical and theoretical analysis. Students develop their talents as performers through lessons and participation in large and small ensembles. In addition to weekly ensemble rehearsals and open concerts offered monthly, students present at least two or three full-length concerts of their own work by the end of their fourth year.

 
About the ASCAP Foundation
Founded in 1975, The ASCAP Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to supporting American music creators and encouraging their development through music education and talent development programs. Included in these are songwriting workshops, grants, scholarships, awards, recognition and community outreach programs, and public service projects for senior composers and lyricists. The ASCAP Foundation is supported by contributions from ASCAP members and from music lovers throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.ascapfoundation.org.


TO DOWNLOAD A HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTO, go to: www.bard.edu/news/pressphotos/
PHOTO CAPTION: Bard College senior Maxwell J. McKee ’13 is one of the recipients of the prestigious American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards for 2012.
PHOTO CREDIT: Eugenia Morrison

(01/16/13)

This event was last updated on 01-16-2013

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