Michael Abels (born October 8, 1962) is an American composer best known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films ''

Get Out ''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Land ...

'' and '' Us'', for which Abels won a World Soundtrack Award, the

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franch ...

Award, a Critics Choice nomination, and multiple' critics awards. The hip-hop influenced score for ''Us'' was short-listed for the

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and was even named “Score of the Decade” by ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...

''. Other recent media projects include the films '' Bad Education'', ''

Nightbooks ''Nightbooks'' is a 2021 American dark fantasy film directed by David Yarovesky and written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. It is based on the 2018 horror-fantasy children's book of the same name by J. A. White. The film stars Winslow Fe ...

'', '' Fake Famous'', and the docu-series '' Allen v. Farrow''. Current 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 The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

, ''Isolation Variation'' for

Hilary Hahn Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. She has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemporary classical music, and several ...

, and the opera ''Omar'' co-composed with Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Rhiannon Giddens. Some of these pieces are available on the

Cedille Records Cedille Records () is the independent record label of the Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. History In 1989, James Ginsburg, the son of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, founded Cedille Records as a for-profit c ...

, including ''Delights & Dances'' and ''Winged Creatures''. Current 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.

Early life

Abels was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

. He spent his early years on a small farm in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

, where he lived with his grandparents. Introduced to music via the family piano, he began showing an innate curiosity towards music at age 4.De Lerma, Dominique-Rene
"African Heritage Symphonic Series Vol. III"
Liner note essay. Cedille Records CDR066. 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 , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Abels, who is mixed race, eventually studied West African drumming techniques at California Institute for the Arts, and sang in a predominantly black church choir to further explore his

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

roots.

Filmography

Composer * ''

'' (2017) * '' Us'' (2019) * '' See You Yesterday'' (2019) * '' All Day and a Night'' (2020) * '' Bad Education'' (2020) * '' Fake Famous'' (2021) * ''

'' (2021) * '' Nope'' (2022) * '' Breaking'' (2022) Additional music * ''

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

'' (2017)

Other works

* ''Falling Sky'', ballet (2020) * ''At war with ourselves'', a concert piece on a poem by

Nikky Finney Nikky Finney (born Lynn Carol Finney on August 26, 1957, in Conway, South Carolina) is an American poet. She was the Guy Davenport Endowed Professor of English at the University of Kentucky for twenty years. In 2013, she accepted a position at t ...

* ''Omar'', an original opera on the life of Omar ibn Said co-composed by Rhiannon Giddens * ''Get Out'', in concert (2020)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Profile at SubitoMusic.comIMDB PageMichael Abels Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abels, Michael 1962 births 20th-century American composers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century American male musicians African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American film score composers African-American male classical composers American film score composers American male classical composers Living people American male film score composers Musicians from Phoenix, Arizona Musicians from South Dakota USC Thornton School of Music alumni Classical musicians from Arizona 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians