About Maxwell
Maxwell Kaye is a young composer who aims to use music as a medium to express the beauty of the world through his own personal lens. He is inspired by all forms of art, but especially by the art of storytelling. Most of his music is programmatic in some way: some of his compositions tell explicit stories, while others simply express vague emotions or concepts. With everything he writes, he seeks to tell these stories in a way that will inspire his listeners to reflect on their own place in the world with a sense of reverence and passion.
Born in New Jersey in 2002, he has had melodies in his head for as long as he can remember, and began writing music at the age of seven, when an enthrallment with Mozart inspired him to teach himself to read music so he could write down his own ideas. He has since won several awards for his compositions, most recently the Orpheus Chamber Singers' 30th Anniversary Composition Competition, for which he was commissioned to write a new work for their 2024-25 season. Earlier this year, he was commissioned by the Mannes Sounds Festival to write music to the poetry of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe for a presentation at the German Consulate General of New York City in April 2024. His music has also been featured in programs at the Eastman School of Music, the Curtis Institute, Pacific Lutheran University, and numerous times at the Charles Ives Music Festival (CIMF) in his hometown of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
He took up the clarinet at the age of ten, and his experiences playing it in orchestral and chamber ensembles have greatly informed his work as a composer. From 2018 to 2021, he served as co-principal clarinet in the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra (WCYO), and at the end of his tenure, he won the WCYO's annual essay contest and received a scholarship which has helped him pay for his studies at the Mannes School of Music in New York City, where he is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music (BM) degree in composition in the studio of Lowell Liebermann, graduating in May 2025.
The Cascade Sinfonietta, under the direction of conductors Ryan Bair and Nicoletta Moss Miller (not pictured), playing Maxwell Kaye's Fugal Overture at the Cascade Conducting Masterclass at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, U.S.A., on July 1, 2023.
Members of the Rochester Philharmonic perform Maxwell Kaye's String Quartet No. 1 at Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, U.S.A., on July 25, 2019.