Ahmed Al Abaca

Ahmed Al Abaca’s League Commission will be premiered by the Jacksonville Symphony.

Additional Performances TBD

Ahmed Alabaca (they/them) is an African American composer, conductor, songwriter, pianist, and community facilitator. Creating power and possibility through music, for themselves and the diverse communities they are a part of, is the basis of Ahmed’s work. Raised in San Bernardino, CA, Ahmed understands the value of hard work and perseverance in the face of systemic and interpersonal challenges. Ahmed’s vision is “a new renaissance” for underrepresented composers, which centers the works of people of color and creates opportunities to perform, record, and archive their work.

Ahmed received their B.A. in Music from Hunter College in New York and attended advanced classes in film scoring at Juilliard and UCLA extension. While in New York, Ahmed began their professional career as a composer. Here, Ahmed met their creative partner Lily Raabe, who directed every show Ahmed scored. A perfect collaborator, Lily shared Ahmed’s views of how art can be the conduit of change in overlooked communities. A collective comprised of Ahmed, Lily, and Brandon Estrella created and produced the Live Aloha Art Festival (named by Waiakea high school students) in Hilo, Hawaii. Combining theatre, music, and film, the collective worked with local organizations and schools to provide a festival for the people, by the people. 

Over the years, Ahmed has advocated for compassionate and genuine community engagement. Currently serving as music director of South Loop Symphony, a community orchestra in Chicago, Ahmed’s passion for honest community engagement and the importance of true transparency has connected them with Chicago’s increasingly diverse artistic communities. By programming music from the 20th and 21st centuries with an emphasis on Black and women composers, Ahmed has exposed audiences to music that had been largely forgotten or overlooked. In Chicago, Ahmed has also worked with some of the nation’s best musicians—from D-Composed, a premiere all-Black string quartet, to the Chicago Sinfonietta—serving as a co-presenter demonstrating the roles and responsibilities of a conductor to local students.

Over the past 20 years, Ahmed has had the pleasure of working with all kinds of communities, from being a peer educator in high school to working with young Black and Latino music students on the south and west sides of Chicago. Ahmed continues to compose and arrange music for professional and community orchestras all over the U.S., as well as provide affordable music lessons to those who are passionate about learning more about music. They will continue to promote the importance of genuine, compassionate, and honest community engagement through conversation, action, and music.

More from Ahmed

Photo courtesy of Ahmed Al Abaca.