Thomas Schoenberger may have created a monster -- a potentially lucrative one.

No, not in the way Mary Shelley fashioned a scary beast on the printed page.

Rather, the Napa pianist and composer has painted himself into an untapped corner of the music market. He's fast becoming a composer for the younger set -- and we don't mean fans of Britney Spears.

Not long after he and his wife, Faranak, also an accomplished pianist, were blessed with the birth of a son, Michael Wolfgang, Schoenberger sat down at the piano to compose music expressly aimed at his newborn son.

Thomas says his baby reacted well to most of his newly composed works, prompting him to record a number of them on a "Music for Infants" compact disc released in December, 2000.

"If Wolfie fussed or didn't seem to respond positively, the piece didn't make the cut," Thomas confides.

The CD was well received, as parents hither, thither and yon sent Thomas messages about the interaction of infants and his music.

"I saw a definitive reaction in babies and wanted to explore greater complexity in texturing in order to reach out to babies up to 36 months," adds the owner of Napa-based North Bay Entertainment, the wine country's premier entertainment booking agency.

To that end, Schoenberger kept composing, working primarily on a new CD designed to appeal to more than infants, children up to ages three or four, for sure, maybe even older than that.

His compositions are in a decidedly Mozartian style -- sonatas and serenades, waltzes and gigues, even fantasias and marches -- with a wide range of mood and expression composed for all listeners, for all seasons.

In fact, business tycoon Lee Iacocca, after listening to the newest CD, said "Thomas's music sounds just like Mozart."

Schoenberger experimented with a variety of instrumentation for "The Ultimate Baby CD," from solo keyboard exercises to using the electronic keyboard to create all manner of woodwinds and strings.

"(The music) is stimulating as well as having a calming effect," Thomas notes. "Some of it is designed for morning wakeup, others are more lullaby in nature. It's all behavioral modification music.

"In 1993, Dr. Helen Rauscher did a study with babies using Mozart's double piano sonata, showing how it increased the babies' cognitive facilities, alertness and comprehension.

"Since that time, no composer has taken up the challenge to mimic those effects through original music. There's nothing on the baby market like this ("The Ultimate Baby CD"). All there is is a rehash of 250-year-old classical music.

"I don't think anyone would disagree that music stimulates the senses. I go a step further as I believe it can be tied to distinct brain stimulus in very young children."

Testimonials coming in

Los Angeles jazz pianist Clive Davis is sold on Schoenberger's efforts. The father of two young girls -- Samantha, 2, and Carly, 3 -- said he bought the "Music for Infants" CD last year "and both of our kids were mesmerized. We tried three other music CDs that were made for children and the kids grew bored nice and quick.

"We just bought the newest one and I swear Sammy listened to the whole CD three times in a row. Carly also listens to the CD every day. This guy's music does something very cool to babies' brain waves. His is on to something really big."

Schoenberger may have some scientific support as well, for the Orange County-based M.I.N.D. (Music Intelligence Neural Development) Institute is conducting research on the relationship between music, reasoning and the brain. The institute has successfully applied the results of that research to improving mathematics learning skills of elementary school students.

"Imagine enhancing a baby's neural capacities, training their brains to grasp the world around them," Schoenberger adds. "I guess this is designer music...melodic mind exercises for the teething set. It's where science and song meet."

Children aren't the only ones impressed by Schoenberger's compositions. "As a performer, I find solace in these pieces as they teach me correct and accurate etiquette in playing precise musical lines on the cello," says Napa Valley teacher/cellist Jeffrey McFarland-Johnson. He's recorded cello obligato lines integrating Thomas' keyboard efforts, a recording he may soon release with Schoenberger's blessing.

"Thomas understands the timing of the human psyche and the micro- and macro-rhythmic patterns we experience on this planet and he intuitively can translate these patterns into organized sound and silence. The violoncello obligati I wrote in response to Thomas's short musical movements simply fell out of my mind onto the manuscript paper.

"I've always hoped that one day I would come face to face, in real life, with someone who could compose like the supreme masters of the past did. I don't think Thomas has met a level of full maturity yet. But, gosh, is he on his way!"

Reception for CD

Schoenberger spent a little over one month composing the three dozen pieces on "The Ultimate Baby CD." He says he often wrote four to six pieces a day, again including his son's favorites on the newest release.

"I compose every day," he reveals. "If I don't write down the music that's in my head, it bothers me, say like a migraine headache would."

Thomas does use his 2-year-old son as prime test subject, along with the children of a few friends. He says his son has already begun playing the piano. "He's hitting the chords on key -- he even screams on key."

"The Ultimate Baby CD" has become all the rage with parents. One of the places where it's on sale is Napa's Jessel Gallery, where, since its release a couple of months ago, the staff has sold several hundred of the new CDs.

"Day care centers like its hour-long length," Schoenberger advises. "Browns Valley pre-school is also using it."

Not only has the children's watchdog group, Kids First!, endorsed the CD, some of the tunes are being used by the Discovery Channel for an upcoming special titled "The Deep Blue Ocean."

Schoenberger and McFarland-Johnson have been invited by Copia to put on a concert for toddlers and tykes later this summer -- which will be the first performance of Schoenberger's works with electronic cello accompaniment. "Usually this is the age group people don't want to see at concerts," the Napa composer quipped. "This time around it's the adults who are going to have to toe the mark."

Retailing for $16, "The Ultimate Baby CD" can be found at Jessel Gallery, Vallerga's Markets, Cribs & Bibs, The Learning Faire, Napa Foundation for Recreation, Napa Valley Keyboards, Ace Cleaners and Chardonnay Cleaners.