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Michael Abels

American classical/film composer

Summary

American classical/film composer

Field	Value
image	File:Michael Abels(8).Photo by Eric Schwabel.jpg
caption	Abels In November 2019
birth_date
birth_place	Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
education	USC Los Angeles Thornton School Of Music
occupation	Composer

Michael Abels (born October 8, 1962) is an American composer best known for the opera Omar, co-written with Rhiannon Giddens, and his scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us and Nope. The hip-hop influenced score for Us was short-listed for the Oscars and was even named "Score of the Decade" by TheWrap. Other recent media projects include the films Bad Education, Nightbooks, Fake Famous, and the docu-series Allen v. Farrow. His most recent releases include Beauty which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is now streaming on Netflix, Breaking (formerly 892) which premiered at Sundance, and his third collaboration with Jordan Peele, Nope.

Abels' works also includes many concert works, such as At War With Ourselves for the Kronos Quartet, Isolation Variation for Hilary Hahn, and the opera Omar co-composed with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Rhiannon Giddens. Some of these pieces are available on the Cedille Records, including Delights & Dances and Winged Creatures. Recent commissions include a work for the National Symphony Orchestra and a guitar concerto for Mak Grgić.

Abels is co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, gaming and streaming media.

In 2023, the opera Omar, co-written by Abels and Rhiannon Giddens, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Early life

Abels was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He spent his early years on a small farm in South Dakota, where he lived with his grandparents. Introduced to music via the family piano, he began showing an innate curiosity towards music at age 4. His music-loving grandparents convinced the local piano teacher to take him on as a student despite his age. At age 8, Abels began composing music, and by age 13, his first completed orchestral work was performed.

Upon graduating from high school, Abels attended the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles. Abels, who is mixed race, eventually studied West African drumming techniques at California Institute of the Arts, and sang in a predominantly black church choir to further explore his African-American roots.

Filmography

Composer

Get Out (2017)
Us (2019)
See You Yesterday (2019)
All Day and a Night (2020)
Bad Education (2020)
Fake Famous (2021)
Nightbooks (2021)
Allen v. Farrow (2021)
Nope (2022)
Breaking (2022)
Landscape with Invisible Hand (2023)
The Burial (2023)
The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024)
The Acolyte (2024)
Sirens (2025)

Additional music

Detroit (2017)

Other works

Global Warming (1990) (commissioned by the Phoenix Youth Symphony)
I'm Determined (1991) for orchestra
How Majestic (1992) for orchestra
American Variations on Swing Low Sweet Chariot (1993) (premiered by Doc Severinsen and the Phoenix Symphony)
Frederick's Fables (1994, 1996) four pieces for orchestra, based on selected stories of Leo Lionni
Dance for Martin's Dream (1998) for orchestra (commissioned by the Houston Symphony and the Nashville Symphony)
You're a Grand Old Flag (1995) for orchestra
More Seasons (1999)
Limitless (2000) for choir, or soloist with choral accompaniment, and piano
Homies & Popz (2001) opera
Tribute (2001) for orchestra
Affectionate Objects (2004) for orchestra
Outburst (2005) for orchestra
Delights & Dances (2007) for string quartet and orchestra
Urban Legends (2008) for string quartet and orchestra (commissioned by the Sphinx Organization)
Aquadia (2009) for orchestra (co-commissioned by the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Shedd Aquarium)
Be the Change (2015) for choir, or soloist with choral accompaniment, and piano
The Open Hand
Victory Road (2017) for orchestra
Iconoclasm (2017) for piano
Liquify (2017) for orchestra
Twilight Drive for piano
Winged Creatures (2018) for flute, clarinet and orchestra (commissioned by Cedille Records) written for Anthony and Demarre McGill
Pensivity for piano
Life in a Day
Struck by Enlightenment
Falling Sky (for concert band) (2019)
Falling Sky, ballet (2020)
Anguish (from Falling Sky) (2020) for piano
Gift of the Machine (2020)
Isolation Variation (2020) for unaccompanied violin (for Hillary Hahn)
At War with Ourselves, oratorio - libretto by Nikky Finney, commissioned for the Kronos Quartet
Omar, an original opera on the life of Omar ibn Said co-composed by Rhiannon Giddens
Get Out, in concert (2020)
Emerge (2021) for orchestra (co-commission from Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
Guitar Concerto "Borders" (2022) Commissioned by ROCO & Quad City Symphony, written for Mak Grgić

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2017	Fright Meter Awards	Best Score	Get Out
World Soundtrack Awards	Discovery of the Year
International Online Cinema Awards	Best Original Score
2018	International Film Music Critics Awards	Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film
Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Score
2019	Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award	Best Original Score	Us
World Soundtrack Awards	Discovery of the Year
Indiana Film Journalists Association	Best Musical Score
Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Awards	Best Score
Chicago Film Critics Association Award	Best Original Score
Phoenix Critics Circle	Best Score
Seattle Film Critics Society Awards	Best Original Score
Hollywood Music in Media Awards	Best Original Score- Horror Film
Fright Meter Awards	Best Score
2020	51st NAACP Image Award	Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album
Critics Choice Awards	Best Score
Black Reel Award	Outstanding Score
Latino Entertainment Journalists Association Film Award	Best Music
Music City Film Critics' Association Award	Best Score
North Carolina Film Critics Association	Best Music
Online Film & Television Association, OFTA Film Award	Best Music, Original Score
Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards	Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film
Austin Film Critics Association Awards	Best Score
International Film Music Critics Award	Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film
Central Ohio Film Critics Association	Best Score
Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle Award	Best Original Score
Georgia Film Critics Association	Original Score
Gold Derby Awards	Original Score
Hawaii Film Critics Society	Best Original Score
Hollywood Critics Association	Best Score
Houston Film Critics Society Awards	Best Original Score
Online Film Critics Society Awards	Best Original Score
2021		73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Original Score for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score)	Allen v. Farrow
	73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music	Allen v. Farrow
2023	Pulitzer Prize	Music	Omar
2025	56th NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Original Score for Television/Motion Picture	The Acolyte
56th NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Original Score for Television/Motion Picture	The American Society of Magical Negroes

References

"At War With Ourselves - 400 Years of You". [[University of South Carolina]].
(June 10, 2019). "Rhiannon Giddens is Writing An Opera". The New York Times.
(2021). "Omar, A World Premiere Opera in 2022". [[Spoleto Festival USA]].
"GUITAR CONCERTO BY MICHAEL ABELS WITH ROCO ORCHESTRA". Schmidt Artists International, Inc..
"Composer for 'Get Out' and 'Us' Talks Diversity, Inclusiveness in Music". [[NBCUniversal Media]].
"2023 Pulitzer Prizes".
De Lerma, Dominique-Rene. [http://www.dramonline.org/albums/african-heritage-symphonic-series-vol-iii/notes "African Heritage Symphonic Series Vol. III"]. Liner note essay. Cedille Records CDR066.
"Michael Abels: Biography". [[Kennedy Center]].
"Michael Abels, Composer Of Jordan Peele's Us, Balances Terror With Empathy". [[NPR]].
(June 24, 2009). "Michael Abels: A composer makes 'Waves'". Windy City Media Group.
"Delights and Dances | Classical Music".
"Winged Creatures | Classical Music".
Cooper, Michael. (June 11, 2019). "Rhiannon Giddens Is Writing an Opera". [[The New York Times]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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