Compose Yourself! Project Composition Master Class
Each year, the Hoff-Barthelson Composition Master Class invites young composers to step into the spotlight. Directed by Dr. Derek Cooper in partnership with Copland House, this highlight of the season offers students an extraordinary opportunity to present their original works and receive thoughtful, professional feedback from celebrated, award-winning composers through the HB Compose Yourself! Project. This year’s composers are Haralabos (Harry) Stafylakis and Max Grafe.
Master Classes are open to the public to observe free of charge.
Haralabos (Harry) Stafylakis is a New York City–based, JUNO-nominated composer from Montreal whose music blends classical tradition with the intensity of heavy metal. Critics have described his work as “dreamy yet rhythmic” (The New York Times) and “ferociously expressive” (Times Colonist), marked by visceral energy and bold harmonic language. He is composer-in-residence with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and co-curator of the Winnipeg New Music Festival. Stafylakis has collaborated with leading classical and metal artists and ensembles worldwide. His album Calibrating Friction (New Amsterdam Records) received a 2024 JUNO nomination, alongside major honors from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP,
and SOCAN.
Max Grafe is a composer whose music harnesses modernist vocabularies to create striking, dramatic, and narrative impact. Described by Gramophone as featuring “jagged declamations and muffled filigree,” his works have been commissioned by ensembles including the New York Philharmonic and presented at festivals such as Tanglewood and RED NOTE. Grafe is a founding member of ICEBERG New Music, and his compositions appear on recordings by major ensembles and soloists. He has received numerous honors from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI, and ASCAP. Grafe teaches at Montclair State University and the Kaufman Music Center and is Composer in Residence at Kinhaven Music School.
Pictured: Haralabos (Harry) Stafylakis
