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It is not stretching credibility too far to suggest some similarities between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of Austria and Allan Zavod of Melbourne.

Both were piano prodigies born to violinist fathers. Both were ambitious men best recognized for their talents outside their homelands.

And both had the grand view that music, the sublime force that governed their lives from birth, was a gift to be directly shared.

Melbourne-based Zavod, recognized long ago as a piano virtuoso by Duke Ellington, would have competed with the German genius as a composer for hire had he been working in Mozart's era.

For a few francs, pfennigs or florins, he would have turned out a neat string quartet for your uncle's birthday, a couple of love songs for the wedding anniversary and maybe a cantata for grandma's 80th.

Zavod, the brilliant keyboardist who toured the world with Frank Zappa, the Glenn-Miller Orchestra and Jean-Luc Ponty and co=wrote a film score with Eric Clapton, now wants to spearhead a return to the glorious past when composers were available to work for anyone.

Unlike Mozart, whose bandwagon took more than a century after his death to start rolling, Zavod is not destined to die in poverty.

He is already successful on both sides of the globe as a player and composer. At 45, he believes his most creative years are ahead.

The son of violinist Eddie Zavod first stunned piano fans as an intense teenager who won the final of the City of Dandenong Piano forte Recital competition in May 1968.

Third prize was awarded to Geoffrey Saba, now a renowned concert pianist. Zavod had no other with than to be a musician.

Attending Melbourne University Conservatorium, he formed the Allan Zavod Trio, with bass player Jeremy Alsop and drummer Virgil Donati, and wowed audiences at jazz clubs.

While studying he was asked to appear on Graham Kennedy's "In Melbourne Tonight." It was almost the end of a career.

Busy studying for his musician exams, he buried his head in a book in the rehearsal room, unaware that Kennedy had announced the Trio's appearance.

He was finally found and played "the best performance of my life."

Kennedy, fuming, turned to him after the show and said: "That's it Allan, You're finished."

Zavod did return to play on the show six months later.

I'll never be able to forget that experience I had with a man who was a fine musician."

He followed that with a career as a movie composer, writing scores that have been admired by people such as film music supremo John Williams.

His film credits include: "Death of a Soldier", "The Time Guardian", "The Howling III" and "Communion."

In the past 10 years, he has been a guest recording artist with Australian Crawl, composed and performed "Concerto Australiana" at the Sydney Opera House for the 1988 Bicentennial Celebrations, played for the Dalai Lama and produced tracks for Judith Durham.

"I've looked at my CV occasionally and thought, wow I've done a few interesting things" Zavod says.

"But when it all boils down, it's the now and present that is exciting for a composer and musician.

You can't rely on the past, but you can acknowledge that it ahs given you the experience to be where you are now."

The constant adaptation of styles and development of his repertoire made him a formidable musical force.

"When you start out you copy everyone else until you find out who you really are as a person and a musician. When you finally achieve that, you hear other people copying you.

It's weird but that's the way this process works. You have to listen, learn and develop as a unique artist."