Michael Abels

Michael Abels is an American composer known both for his film scores, including Jordan Peele's "Get Out" and "Us," and for concert works written for orchestras across the United States. Born in 1962, he built a career writing music that moves easily between the screen and the symphony stage. His concert pieces often draw on rhythms and melodic ideas rooted in American vernacular music, giving orchestras a contemporary voice that still feels immediately approachable to first time listeners.

Abels writes music with clear pulse and forward motion, often built from short repeating rhythmic patterns that shift and layer as instruments enter one by one. Percussion tends to be active and colorful, and the string writing can turn from driving and insistent to lyrical within the same piece. Pieces frequently open with a rhythmic figure stated plainly, then build texture and volume as more of the orchestra joins in. Melodies sometimes nod toward blues or gospel inflections without quoting them directly. Works are typically single continuous movements or a handful of contrasting short sections, running under twenty minutes. Endings tend to arrive with rhythmic intensity rather than a slow fade, giving audiences a clear, satisfying close.