Wall Intermediate Graduate Joins Prestigious Music School

WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Wall Township resident and percussionist has been granted an audition for the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, one of the most prestigious music schools in the world.

Omar El-Abidin, a graduate of Wall Intermediate School won a worldwide audition to apprentice at the philharmonic, and will start in February. “It’s kind of like being drafted into the Yankees in the music world,” El-Abidin’s mother Marilyn told Patch in an email.

El-Abidin began his music career at age 7, playing drums in the basement of his family’s Wall Township home, his mother said. At just seven, he joined his much older brothers, Julian and Rami, in a band.

At Wall Intermediate School, El-Abidin was inspired by a music appreciation course, and one night told his mother he wanted to finish listening to Vivaldi before coming to dinner. He joined the school band and his director, Steve Bryant, sent him home with a different instrument every few weeks: he learned trumpet, trombone, oboe, and more before settling on the French horn and percussion.

From there, El-Abidin joined the New Jersey Youth Symphony, and studied at Juilliard’s pre-college program. At 13, he toured South America with the New York Symphony, then toured South America and Europe with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

After graduating Juilliard, he moved to Zurich, Switzerland to study with Klaus Schwarzler, then won an audition for Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, a longtime aspiration.