By Dan Berrett

Music guides Dave Lantz.

Last Wednesday, it was telling the 16-year-old's fingers to glide up and down the keys of a piano, one of many that sit in his family's Sciota home.

Lantz, a junior at Stroudsburg High School, was playing his original composition, "Midnight Voyage." His stocking feet tapped on the pedals of the grand piano and his jaw muscles clenched rhythmically as he played.

"It's definitely on the more modern side," Lantz later said of the song, because of its advanced chord changes. With its subtle shifts in melody, the music sounded clean, cool, even sophisticated.

The song also recently propelled Lantz to a prestigious national award. Last month, he was selected by the ASCAP Foundation for a Young Jazz Composers award in the 14-to-16-year-old category.

About 185 applicants vied for the award, 20 of whom were under 18, said Ken Cicerale, director of awards for ASCAP. The six winners were selected by a panel.

"Our panel is made up of prominent jazz performers and educators," Cicerale said. "Therefore, the selection of any recipient for an award, or even honorable mention, is quite an achievement."

The award, established in 2002, is intended to encourage gifted jazz composers from around the nation. It is supported by the ASCAP Foundation, the charitable arm of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, along with the Gibson Foundation, which is affiliated with the renowned guitar company.

Lantz, who is the fourth Dave Lantz in the family, is the second student from the Poconos to win the ASCAP award. The first was saxophonist Jay Rattman, who won in 2005-06 and also attended Stroudsburg.

To win the ASCAP award, Lantz had to submit a score in December, along with a recording of his song. Lantz's recording featured himself on piano, Joe Walmach on drums and his father, Dave Lantz, III, a music teacher at East Stroudsburg High School-South, playing stand-up bass. The group is called the Daves Lantz Trio.

Music has been a constant in the Lantz home. He started training before he entered kindergarten, and is now accomplished on the violin, alto saxophone, guitar and piano. He made his professional debut on the piano at 14, and played his first gig at the Deer Head Inn the following year.

He practices piano for three hours each day. "I've been raised around music," he said. "It's been a daily thing." He has also been learning from the best, taking lessons from jazz masters Dave Liebman and Phil Markowitz.

While he started in classical music and later made forays into rock, jazz has become his home. The combination of its discipline and spontaneity captivated him about three years ago. "I guess it's the whole improvisational aspect," he said. "When you're improvising, everything just comes. You don't have to think about it. The music just tells you what to play."

He also enjoys the give and take of playing with other musicians, and the focus that it demands. "Jazz is more interactive," he said. "It's one of the most rewarding (genres) because it's the most challenging."

Lantz hopes to follow in the footsteps of legends like Herbie Hancock, whom he cites as an influence. He also looks at the road blazed by Rattman. Like the Stroudsburg grad, Lantz wants to attend the Manhattan School of Music. He hopes eventually to make his living as a jazz musician.

He will keep his hand in composing, though. "It's important for making it on the scene," he said.

"I know this is what I have to do," he said of entering a business with far more people looking to join it than there are jobs. "Since it's such a competitive career, I figure I should go all out."