Michael Abels

Michael Abels is best-known for his scores for Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning debut "Get Out," and for "US," for which Abels won the World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination, an Image Award nomination, and multiple critics awards. The hip-hop influenced score for "US" was short-listed for the Oscar, and was named "Score of the Decade" by online publication The Wrap. Abels is co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, game and streaming media. As a concert composer, Abels has received grants from the NEA and from Meet The Composer. His orchestral works have been performed by the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and many others. As guest conductor of "Get Out In Concert," Abels has led orchestras like the National Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. Several of his orchestral works have been recorded by the Chicago Sinfonietta on the Cedille label, including "Delights & Dances," a work commissioned by the Sphinx Organization. Recent projects include the ballet "Falling Sky" for Butler Ballet, "At War With Ourselves" with Nikky Finney for the Kronos Quartet, and producing "Cry No More" for MacArthur Genius Rhiannon Giddens and the Metropolitan Opera Chorus.