Biographical Information

With a “keen ear for musical color and a deft ability to adapt structural elements from popular music into the symphonic idiom” (Houston Chronicle), Michael Abels has gained widespread recognition for his orchestral pieces Global Warming and Dance For Martin’s Dream. Global Warming has been given more than 100 performances by orchestras including Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, Houston, Baltimore, Louisville, Columbus, Indianapolis, Dallas, Detroit, Nashville, Phoenix, Richmond, West Virginia, New Mexico, and Tucson, as well as many student ensembles. Global Warming, featured in the Detroit Symphony’s 1992 African-American Symphony Composers Forum, was one of the first works of a black composer to be performed by the National Symphony of South Africa following the election of President Mandela. Suggesting both the hot, dry weather of Arizona and the improving “warm” relations between disparate cultures, Global Warming was praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as “a juxtaposition of elements unleashed in an irresistible display of orchestral color.”

Global Warming is featured on the “African Heritage Symphonic Series Volume III” CD by the Chicago Sinfonietta under the direction of Dr. Paul Freeman, released on the Cedille label in 2003 and available on Amazon and iTunes.

Orchestral Works

Current projects include the symphonic score to Fantasea, the new live dolphin spectacular at Chicago’s iconic Shedd Aquarium opening in October 2009, and String Quartet Concerto commissioned by the Sphinx Organization, scheduled for premiere by the Harlem Quartet and the Sphinx Symphony in February 2010.

Abels most recent concert orchestral work, Delights & Dances, was also commissioned by the Sphinx Organization. The work was performed on both their 2007 and 2008 Sphinx Competition Finals Concerts, and appeared in the PBS broadcasts. Sphinx Organization also performed the work at Carnegie Hall in October of 2007, with the Harlem Quartet as soloists, and will do so again in October 2009. The work has already been performed by the Albany, GA Symphony, the Midland Symphony, and is scheduled for performance with other ensembles in the 09-10 season.

Outburst was commissioned by the Annapolis Symphony for premiere at the opening of their 2005-2006 season by their new music director, Jose-Luis Novo. The Annapolis Star-Tribune said of the work: “

Affectionate Objects was commissioned by the Tucson Symphony, and premiered March 4th, 2004 under the direction of Music Director George Hanson. With Affectionate Objects Abels continues to break stylistic borders with influences as diverse as be-bop, electronica and Impressionism. Response to the work was so great that it was programmed for a second performance on the Tucson Symphony’s 2005-06 season.

Tribute was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, and was premiered November 8th, 2001 under the direction of Marin Alsop. Inspired by the heroes of the September 11th attacks, Tribute was the first piece performed by the NSO written after those tragic events. Other orchestras performing Tribute include the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Kalamazoo Symphony.

Dance for Martin’s Dream, a piece expressing both sorrowful and joyous moments in the composer’s experience with Martin Luther King’s legacy, was commissioned by the Nashville Symphony and premiered in Nashville in January 1998. Dance for Martin’s Dream has also been performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, and many others.

Frederick’s Fables—four pieces, based on the collection by Leo Lionni, entitled “Frederick,” “The Greentail Mouse,” “Theodore and the Talking Mushroom,” and “Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse”—was commissioned by Philip Brunelle’s Plymouth Music Series of Minnesota. Parts I and II were premiered with James Earl Jones as narrator in October 1994. Parts III and IV were also premiered by the Plymouth Music Series with Garrison Keillor narrating. Frederick’s Fables has since been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra with Martin Bookspan, and by other ensembles. Abels himself has narrated the piece at Kennedy Center for the National Symphony (DC), and also for the Springfield (MA) Symphony.

Other works by Abels include American Variations on “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” for trumpet and orchestra premiered by Doc Severinsen and the Phoenix Symphony, and More Seasons, performed by the St Paul Chamber Orchestra and others. Abels has also arranged gospel music for Reverend James Cleveland. Some of his arrangements for gospel choir and orchestra are heard annually on the PBS special Atlanta Symphony Gospel Christmas. The Abels gospel arrangements are regularly performed by orchestras throughout the United States.

Opera & Children’s Opera

Abels’ 40-minute operetta Homies & Popz (libretto by Bernardo Solano) was commissioned by Los Angeles Opera and premiered in May 2000 at high schools throughout Los Angeles County. It tells the true story of the Compton Homies & the Popz, a cricket team organized by noted activist Ted Hayes to provide an alternative to gangs for inner-city youth and homeless adults.

Abels’ 60-minute children’s opera Sergio the Magic Sweatshirt was commissioned by the Sonja Berggren Seaver Arts Symposium and premiered by the Westerly School of Long Beach in May 2003. The story and characters of Sergio were written by the students of the school; Abels wrote both the music and the libretto. A new production of Sergio is scheduled for Opera Pacific’s annual opera camp for youth in summer 2005.

An excerpt from Abels’ grand opera Hit & Run (in progress) was given a concert reading in May, 2001 by New York City Opera at their “Showcasing American Composers” workshop.

Residencies / Community Outreach / Education

Abels was a participant in the Meet The Composer New Residencies, a 3-year community residency which Abels held in the Watts community of Los Angeles. During the residency, Abels wrote Bitterroot for the USC Percussion Ensemble, which was premiered in September 1998 at the Watts Towers annual Day of the Drum Festival. He wrote songs and incidental music for the Cornerstone Theater Company’s production of Lisa Loomer’s “Broken Hearts: a BH Mystery,” which won Backstage West’s 1999 Garland Award for musical score, and which was named one of the 10 Best Theater Productions of 1999 by the Los Angeles Times. He also wrote and performed the score for Cornerstone’s production of Alison Carey’s “For Here Or To Go” which ran at the Mark Taper Forum in December 2000. Abels is currently an Associate Artist with Cornerstone Theater.

From 1998 – 2004, Abels taught free classes in Music Production & Technology at the Watts Towers Arts Center and other venues. This program was invented by the composer to give hands-on instruction in the technology which plays an integral part of today’s musical culture to youth with no formal musical training. The class was featured on KCAL Channel 9 television. Abels teaches composition privately to adults and teens, and is on the judging panel for Yamaha Corporation of America’s youth composition competitions. Abels is currently Music Director of New Roads School, a diverse private college preparatory school in Santa Monica, CA.

Abels was a recipient of a Music Alive Residency for 2002-2003 with the Richmond Symphony through Meet The Composer and the American Symphony Orchestra League. Current projects include The Idols of Audio, a children’s opera for the Phoenix Boys Choir funded by a grant from the NEA.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Michael Abels grew up in rural South Dakota where he began piano lessons at an early age. He earned his Bachelors’ of Music degree from the University of Southern California, where he studied with James Hopkins and Robert Linn. In 1984, he was named Outstanding Senior among student composers for his composition Queries, scored for two pianos and prepared piano. In 1985-86, he studied West African music with Alfred Ladzekpo at the California Institute for the Arts. Aside from his activities as a composer, arranger and teacher, Abels is an amateur triathlete.

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