For the totality of his works, Jean-Michel Damase was given the Grand Musical Prize from the SACD (Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers) and the Grand Prize from the city of Paris.
He appeared as a piano soloist in the Colonne and Conservatoire concerts, and with the Orchestre National of the ORTF.
In 1947 he won the Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata Et la belle se réveilla.
His first work (at the age of nine) was a setting of some poems by Colette, whom he had met at a Parisian salon.
He was studying piano and solfège with Marcel Samuel-Rousseau at the age of five and composing by age nine.