Composer Max Grafe (b. 1988) is rapidly emerging onto the American new music scene. His work has been hailed as “adept” and “imaginatively scored” by the Woodstock Times, and has been performed domestically and abroad by a wide variety of ensembles. Current projects include a concerto for bassoonist Elizabeth Garrett and a duo for saxophonist Noa Even and percussionist Stephen Klunk.
Mr. Grafe has received several prestigious awards for student composers, including a fellowship to the 2012 Aspen Music Festival and School, a 2011 Jacobs School of Music Dean’s Prize, and a 2007 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award.
Mr. Grafe is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in composition at The Juilliard School, where he is the recipient of the Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship, the Juilliard Alumni Scholarship, the Richard Rodgers Scholarship in Composition, and the Alexandre Gretchaninoff Memorial Prize. He will be continuing his studies at Juilliard in the fall as a CV Starr Doctoral Fellow. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in composition with a concentration in bassoon from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2011, graduating with music departmental honors and a general honors notation. He was the winner of the 2006 IU Composition Competition for High School Students, earning a substantial scholarship for undergraduate study. He has also taken classes in the preparatory division of Mannes College of Music and graduated with honors in composition and bassoon.
Performances
Janus Ponders the Cosmos to be premiered by bassoonist Elizabeth Garrett, New Haven, CT, date TBD
Moon Cycles to be performed by newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Kansas City, MO, September 2013
The Night-Drinker: Invocation to Xipe Totec to be premiered alongside works by Christopher Rouse and students, Albany, NY, June 1, 2013
Parthenogenesis performed on the Argento Chamber Ensemble’s Lunar Movements concert series by pianist Joanna Chao, New York, NY, December 9, 2012
Sprawl premiered on the 2012 Juilliard Composers and Choreographers showcase with choreography by Eve Jacobs, New York, NY, November 2012
Parthenogenesis premiered by pianist Han Chen at the Juilliard School’s 2012 Beyond the Machine electroacoustic music showcase, New York, NY, November 2012
Three Madrigals on Poems of Wallace Stevens premiered by Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, Bowling Green, OH and midwest tour, October 2012
Studies in Transience premiered by students at the 2012 Aspen Music Festival and School, Aspen, CO, August 2012
Selections from Joan premiered by Indiana University voice students, Bloomington, IN, May 2011
Crepusculum: Electric Sky premiered at Centrum Judaicum, Berlin, Germany, July 2010
Moon Cycles premiered by the East Coast Contemporary Ensemble at Highpoint Composition Seminar, Woodstock, NY, May 2010
Oak Dances premiered by Tuple, Morgantown, WV, January 2009
Fantasia on an Irish Folk Tune premiered by the Orange County Community College Band, Middletown, NY, October 2008
Fresco premiered by MSU Bozeman Orchestra, Bozeman, MT, October 2008
Awards and Honors
CV Starr Doctoral Fellowship, The Juilliard School class of 2018
Susan and Ford Schumann Fellowship in Composition Studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Individual Studies Program, Summer 2012
Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowship, The Juilliard School class of 2013
Juilliard Alumni Scholarship, The Juilliard School class of 2013
Richard Rodgers Scholarship in Composition, The Juilliard School class of 2013
Alexandre Gretchaninoff Memorial Prize, The Juilliard School class of 2013
Winner, Jacobs School of Music composition Dean’s Prize, 2011, for Moon Cycles
Participant, Freie Universität Berlin Summer Composition Course, Berlin, Germany, May-July 2010
Fellow, Highpoint Composition Seminar, Woodstock, NY, May 2010, Moon Cycles commissioned and premiered
Winner, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, 2007, for Mural
Winner, Indiana University Composition Competition for High School Students, 2006
Winner, New York State Band Directors Association Composition Competition, 2005, for Fantasia on an Irish Folk Tune
Education
The Juilliard School ’18: Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition
Studies with Christopher RouseThe Juilliard School ’13: Master of Music in Composition
Studies with Christopher RouseIndiana University Jacobs School of Music ’11: Bachelor of Music in Composition, Bassoon Performance concentration
Composition studies with Don Freund, Michael Gandolfi, W. Claude Baker, 
David Dzubay and Aaron Travers
Bassoon studies with William Ludwig, Charles Ullery and Kathleen McLeanMannes College of Music Preparatory Division ’07: Honors Diploma in Composition and Bassoon
Composition studies with Keith Fitch
Bassoon studies with Leonard Hindell