Michael Abels was born in Phoenix, Arizona but grew up on his grandparent’s farm in South Dakota.  They had a piano in the home and Michael showed an early interest in the instrument.  His grandparents encouraged him and started lessons for him by age 4.  He started composing soon after and at age 13 had his first orchestral piece performed.  He attended the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and studied West Africa drumming techniques at the California Institute of the Arts.  His orchestral works are gaining favor with audiences, but it is his movie scores that have brought him popular successes.  His collaborations with Jordan Peele on the films Get Out and Us earned Abels several awards, including “score of the decade” by The Wrap publication for the score to Us.  It is difficult to name a genre for most of Abels’ works as he pulls from many different influences in creative combinations.

“Delights & Dances” was composed for the Harlem Quartet on a commission from the Sphinx Competition, a Detroit-based non-profit that support young African American and Latino string players.  It is a rhythmically energetic work, that builds from a single instrument to the entire orchestra, adding layers and instruments as it progresses.  In the composer’s words:

This work, “showcases a quartet of string soloists in a kind of diptych of American musical genres, one regarded as “black” and the other “white.”  The piece begins with a slow, lyrical introduction that grows from a cello solo into a duet with the viola, culminating in a gentle crescendo for the full quartet. The first major section is a blues, which allows the soloists to flaunt their musical talents through a series of solos that are designed to sound improvised, although they are actually notated. The second half of the piece is a rousing bluegrass hoedown, once again featuring the quartet as they trade riffs back in forth (in a way that might recall “Dueling Banjos”) which culminates in a boisterous coda. It’s a piece that celebrates musicians playing together. I hope it fills you with joy.”