# Michael Abels
**Michael Abels** (born 1962) is an American composer known for concert orchestral works that blend popular and global musical idioms and for his horror film scores for director [Jordan Peele](https://www.edgepedia.org/jordan-peele)'s *Get Out*, *Us*, and *Nope*. He shared the 2023 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) in Music for the opera *Omar*, co-composed with [Rhiannon Giddens](https://www.edgepedia.org/rhiannon-giddens).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962, Phoenix, Arizona; raised on his grandparents' farm in rural South Dakota[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-abels-mn0000062628) • [2](https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/a-conversation-with-pulitzer-prize-winner-michael-abels/) |
| Early milestones | Piano at age 4, first composition at age 8, first orchestral piece performed at age 13[3](https://www.mso.org/app/uploads/2025/04/2425_MSO-C4S-guide_YP4_v03.pdf) |
| Signature film scores | *Get Out* (2017), *Us* (2019), and *Nope* (2022), all for Jordan Peele[4](https://www.laphil.com/people/michael-abels) |
| Awards for *Us* | World Soundtrack Award, Jerry Goldsmith Award, shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, named "Score of the Decade" by *The Wrap*[5](https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels) |
| Pulitzer Prize | 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music for *Omar*, co-composed with Rhiannon Giddens; premiered May 27, 2022, at Spoleto Festival USA[5](https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels) |
| Concert works | *Global Warming*, *Delights & Dances*, *More Seasons*, *At War with Ourselves* (Kronos Quartet), *Isolation Variation* for Hilary Hahn[6](https://subitomusic.com/composers2/highlights/michael-abels/) • [4](https://www.laphil.com/people/michael-abels) |
| Advocacy | Co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, working to increase visibility of composers of color in film, gaming, and streaming media[7](https://www.sfopera.com/archive/bios/michael-abels/) |
## Early life and education
Abels spent his early childhood on his grandparents' sheep and corn farm in [South Dakota](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-dakota), raised by the white side of his biracial family, and lived with an aunt and uncle in Phoenix through his school years[2](https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/a-conversation-with-pulitzer-prize-winner-michael-abels/). He began piano lessons at age four, wrote his first piece at eight, and by 13 had an orchestral work performed[3](https://www.mso.org/app/uploads/2025/04/2425_MSO-C4S-guide_YP4_v03.pdf). He has traced his curiosity about composition to hearing "Do Re Mi" from *The Sound of Music* as a preschooler and wondering, after every piano piece, who had made it up[2](https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/a-conversation-with-pulitzer-prize-winner-michael-abels/).
He moved to Los Angeles to study at the [University of Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-southern-california), where his composition teachers included James Hopkins and Robert Linn; in 1985 and 1986 he studied West African music with Alfred Ladzekpo at the California Institute for the Arts[6](https://subitomusic.com/composers2/highlights/michael-abels/). In interviews he has connected the West African drumming study and joining a gospel church choir in Los Angeles to exploring the Black side of his identity, which he said he had little direct contact with growing up[8](https://www.createastir.ca/articles/michael-abels-vso-viff-2022).
## Concert works
Abels built his reputation in the concert hall before turning to film. His orchestral piece **Global Warming**, honoring international folk musics, premiered in 1991 and has since received more than 100 performances by orchestras including the Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras[6](https://subitomusic.com/composers2/highlights/michael-abels/). After [Nelson Mandela](https://www.edgepedia.org/nelson-mandela)'s election as president of South Africa, it was among the first works by an African-American composer performed by the National Symphony of South Africa[6](https://subitomusic.com/composers2/highlights/michael-abels/).
Other early works show the same genre-blending approach. *American Variations on Swing Low Sweet Chariot* was premiered in 1993 by [Doc Severinsen](https://www.edgepedia.org/doc-severinsen) and the Phoenix Symphony; *Frederick's Fables* (1994), four stories by children's author Leo Lionni for narrator and orchestra, premiered with [James Earl Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-earl-jones) and [Garrison Keillor](https://www.edgepedia.org/garrison-keillor) narrating; and *Dance for Martin's Dream* (1998) honored Martin Luther King, Jr.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-abels-mn0000062628) His 40-minute opera *Homies & Popz*, commissioned by Los Angeles Opera, premiered in 2000 and told the story of activist Ted Hayes, who organized a cricket team for inner-city youth[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-abels-mn0000062628). He responded to the September 11 attacks with the chorale *Tribute*, the first piece performed by the National Symphony Orchestra after 9/11[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-abels-mn0000062628).
**Blending genres.** Abels has described his eclectic style as never fitting neatly into one genre[9](https://audienceaccess.co/bio/LBS-25201). *More Seasons* (1999), a 12-minute single-movement orchestral fantasia, subjects themes from Vivaldi's *Spring* and *Summer* to what he calls "maniacal, Minimalist abuses," and he has called the piece "Vivaldi in a Mixmaster"[6](https://subitomusic.com/composers2/highlights/michael-abels/) • [10](https://cso.org/experience/article/28924/for-more-seasons-his-vivaldi-in-a-mixmaster-m). The Sphinx Organization commissioned *Delights & Dances* (2007) for string quartet and string orchestra, later recorded by the Harlem Quartet with the Chicago Sinfonietta, and *Urban Legends* (2012) for the Harlem Quartet and Sphinx Symphony[11](https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/orchestra/). Later concert works include the choral song cycle *At War with Ourselves* for the [Kronos Quartet](https://www.edgepedia.org/kronos-quartet) and the Grammy-nominated *Isolation Variation* for violinist [Hilary Hahn](https://www.edgepedia.org/hilary-hahn)[4](https://www.laphil.com/people/michael-abels).
## Film scores and the Peele collaborations
Abels' first film score was *Get Out* (2017), Jordan Peele's directorial debut. He has labeled its style "gospel horror," a term he coined after his first meeting with Peele, combining African-American choral voices with harp, unusual percussion, and string orchestra[12](https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/get-out/). The main title, *Sikiliza Kwa Wahenga*, delivers a warning in Swahili from the ghosts of the enslaved, telling the lead character to "listen to the ancestors" and "save yourself"[12](https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/get-out/). *Get Out* won Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and Abels won the Black Reel Award for Best Score and was nominated for World Soundtrack Award Discovery of the Year[12](https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/get-out/). Peele has praised his appetite for dissonant, genuinely frightening music[8](https://www.createastir.ca/articles/michael-abels-vso-viff-2022).
The collaboration continued with *Us* (2019), whose hip-hop-influenced score drew on everything from choral chants to hip-hop and was short-listed for the [Academy Award for Best Original Score](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-original-score); *The Wrap* named it "Score of the Decade"[5](https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels) • [8](https://www.createastir.ca/articles/michael-abels-vso-viff-2022). The score for *Us* won Abels a World Soundtrack Award and a Jerry Goldsmith Award[5](https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels). Their third collaboration, *Nope* (2022), drew on spaghetti-western and science-fiction tropes and was also shortlisted for the Best Original Score Oscar[8](https://www.createastir.ca/articles/michael-abels-vso-viff-2022) • [13](https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy2002/).
Demand grew quickly after *Get Out*. Abels provided additional music for the crime drama *Detroit* (2017) and went on to score *See You Yesterday* (2019), *Bad Education* (2020), *Nightbooks* (2021), *Breaking* (2022), *Chevalier* (2022), *The Burial* (2023), and *Landscape with Invisible Hand* (2023), among others[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-abels-mn0000062628). In television he scored the docuseries *Allen v. Farrow* (2021), earning two Emmy nominations, and *Star Wars: The Acolyte* (2024) for Disney+, for which he co-wrote the original song "The Power of Two" with [Victoria Monét](https://www.edgepedia.org/victoria-monet) and D'Mile[14](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/michael-abels) • [13](https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy2002/). Recent work includes the Netflix series *Sirens* (2025), Peacock's *The 'Burbs* (2026), which brought an Emmy nomination for its main title theme, and Na Hong-jin's thriller *[Hope](https://www.edgepedia.org/hope-2026-film)* (2026)[15](https://kraft-engel.com/clients/michael-abels/). He also conducts concert versions of his film scores; the live-to-film *Get Out* premiered in 2018 with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center[12](https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/get-out/).
## Omar and the Pulitzer Prize
*Omar*, Abels' first opera, was co-composed with singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens and premiered on May 27, 2022, at Spoleto Festival USA in [Charleston, South Carolina](https://www.edgepedia.org/charleston-south-carolina)[5](https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels). The opera tells the story of Omar Ibn Said, a Senegalese Muslim scholar enslaved and brought to North America in the early 19th century, and the Pulitzer citation praised it as a work that "respectfully represents African as well as African American traditions, expanding the language of the operatic form"[5](https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels). The New York Times named *Omar* one of the 10 Best Classical Performances of 2022[4](https://www.laphil.com/people/michael-abels). The opera has since been staged by LA Opera and Boston Lyric Opera, among others[7](https://www.sfopera.com/archive/bios/michael-abels/).
Abels has described a key difference he found between the two forms: film music follows the emotional language dictated by the scenes and enhances emotion already present, while in opera the music sets the tone and the singer sings into that expression[10](https://cso.org/experience/article/28924/for-more-seasons-his-vivaldi-in-a-mixmaster-m).
## Later career and advocacy
Abels is co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group working to increase the visibility of composers of color in film, gaming, and streaming media[7](https://www.sfopera.com/archive/bios/michael-abels/). He serves as Composer-in-Residence for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which is releasing an album of his concert works[15](https://kraft-engel.com/clients/michael-abels/).
## References
1. [Michael Abels Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-abels-mn0000062628)
2. [A Conversation with Pulitzer Prize-Winner Michael Abels, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music](https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/a-conversation-with-pulitzer-prize-winner-michael-abels/)
3. [About the Composer: Michael Abels, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra program guide](https://www.mso.org/app/uploads/2025/04/2425_MSO-C4S-guide_YP4_v03.pdf)
4. [Michael Abels, LA Phil](https://www.laphil.com/people/michael-abels)
5. [Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, The Pulitzer Prizes](https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/rhiannon-giddens-and-michael-abels)
6. [Michael Abels Composer Bio, Subito Music Corporation](https://subitomusic.com/composers2/highlights/michael-abels/)
7. [Michael Abels bio, San Francisco Opera](https://www.sfopera.com/archive/bios/michael-abels/)
8. [VIFF 2022: Composer Michael Abels reveals the genre smarts behind his scary music, Stir](https://www.createastir.ca/articles/michael-abels-vso-viff-2022)
9. [Global Warming program notes, Long Beach Symphony](https://audienceaccess.co/bio/LBS-25201)
10. [For 'More Seasons,' his 'Vivaldi in a Mixmaster,' Michael Abels shakes it up, Chicago Symphony Orchestra](https://cso.org/experience/article/28924/for-more-seasons-his-vivaldi-in-a-mixmaster-m)
11. [Ensemble Works, Michael Abels](https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/orchestra/)
12. [Get Out, Michael Abels](https://michaelabels.com/js_albums/get-out/)
13. [Convergence, Albany Records](https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy2002/)
14. [Michael Abels, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/michael-abels)
15. [Michael Abels, Kraft-Engel Management](https://kraft-engel.com/clients/michael-abels/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Film, TV, and video-game composers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license