Mark Abel

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Mark Abel
Mark Abel, composer
Born	Mark Abel (1948-04-28)April 28, 1948 Hartford, CT
Nationality	American
Occupation	composer
Years active	1999-present
Known for	The Dream Gallery
Style	Classical Music
Website
www.markabelmusic.com

Mark Abel (born 1948) is an American composer of classical music. His work – cast primarily as a flexible rethinking of the art song tradition — is marked by straightforward tonal language, striking vocal writing and avoidance of academic compositional techniques. Abel describes his idiom as a post-modern synthesis of classical and rock. He writes his own lyrics.

Background

After a brief stay at Stanford University in the late 1960s, Abel was active on the New York rock scene during the 1970s and early ‘80s, leading his own groups, producing the influential bands The Feelies and The Bongos, and playing on albums of Tom Verlaine and former Left Banke mastermind Michael Brown (rock musician). He returned to California in 1983 and worked in mainstream journalism for two decades, eventually becoming foreign editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. He moved away from rock during that period, immersed himself in classical and gradually began developing his hybridized style.

Abel has released three CDs in recent years. Journey Long, Journey Far ^[1] and Songs of Life, Love and Death^[2] attracted little notice. But The Dream Gallery,^[3] a 69-minute song cycle for seven soloists and chamber orchestra depicting the lives of imaginary archetypal Californians, caught the interest of celebrated pianist Carol Rosenberger, director of the Delos Productions label, leading to its recording by USC Thornton conductor Sharon Lavery^[4] and the La Brea Sinfonietta.

Delos’ release of Gallery in early 2012 has begun to bring Abel’s music to a wider audience. The record has garnered considerable acclaim, with notices ranging from “profound and compelling”^[5] and “not much like anything else out there, … most highly recommended”^[6] to “anyone who is interested in modern vocal music will want to own this disc.”^[7]

Awards

Global Music Awards - "Award of Excellence" for the lyrics in The Dream Gallery ^[8]
Global Music Awards - "Award of Merit" for "creativity/originality" ^[8]

Discography

References

External links

Persondata
Name	Abel, Mark
Alternative names
Short description	American Composer
Date of birth	1948
Place of birth	Hartford, Connecticut
Date of death
Place of death

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