LAKELAND, Fla. (June 2, 2009) -- Florida Southern College student Andrew Boss was awarded a Young Composers Award for his composition, "Child's Play − A Toccata for Solo Piano," in the 2009 Student/Collegiate Composition competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC). Founded in 1898, the NFMC provides opportunities for musical study, performance and appreciation to more than 200,000 senior, student, and junior members in 6,500 music-related clubs and organizations nationwide.

A piano performance and composition major, Boss says the inspiration for his work began with a class project. "We were given an assignment to arrange a piece out of a nursery rhyme. I did mine on the London Bridge tune; however, I thought of the possibility of writing a serious work using a child nursery tune, and started composing it on the piano." With guidance from his composition teacher, Donald Waxman of Boca Raton, he completed the composition last summer, submitted his work to the NFMC in March and learned of the award in late April.

He recently performed it at the Lakeland Yacht Club for the FSC Board of Trustees.

Boss, a junior at FSC, is the son of Christina Boss and Mike Boss of Fort Lauderdale. After graduation, he hopes to continue his composition and performance studies at the graduate level in New York or Boston.