Ray Kurzweil (left) accepts award from Mike Papa at NAMM.

Hyundai has appointed Ray Kurzweil as Chief Strategy Officer of Kurzweil Music Systems. Hyundai, one of the world’s largest corporations, plans to work with Ray Kurzweil to “build Kurzweil Music Systems into one of the largest music instruments brands in the world,” Kurzweil stated.

Kurzweil, who founded Kurzweil Music Systems, Inc. in 1982, will work with Kurzweil Music Systems management on technology strategy and will also be a primary spokesperson for the company.

At the recent NAMM convention, piano maker Young Chang North America (acquired by Hyundai in 2006) and Kurzweil Music Systems jointly presented “Life Achievement Awards” to Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and Ray Kurzweil in its 50th Anniversary Celebration.

“We were very proud to honor Ray Kurzweil, Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel,” said Kurzweil Music Systems national sales manager Mike Papa.

“Stevie tried to turn down his award, stating that he wanted to ‘give his to Ray Kurzweil, who really deserves it. When the crowd of dealers, Young Chang/Kurzweil executives, musicians, and music industry people heard that Ray will be working as a consultant with Kurzweil Music Systems, they let out a cheer with loud applause.”

“The combination of Kurzweil Music’s strong core technology, with the new Kurzweil ‘Mara’ chip technology, which is stronger than anything else in the industry, and strong brand with Hyundai’s resources, management excellence, and manufacturing reliability will be unbeatable,” said Kurzweil in an impromptu acceptance speech.

At NAMM, Kurzweil Music Systems also introduced the Kurzweil PC3X, “the ultimate performance controller keyboard, offering an enormous collection of stunning preset sounds, comprehensive real-time controller functions, 128 high quality channels, and the power of a full blown workstation.”