The Score | Draylen Mason (2000 – 2018)

The classical music community is mourning the death of Draylen Mason, a promising seventeen-year-old double-bassist from Austin, Texas who was killed on March 12 after a package that had been delivered on the porch of his home exploded. Mason was one of several victims in a series of package-bomb attacks that took place between March 2 and 20 and targeted members of Austin’s African American community. (The suspect in the attacks blew himself up on March 21.) Mason attended East Austin College Prep, was a member of Austin Youth Orchestra, and was an active member of Austin Soundwaves, an El Sistema-inspired music education program. Last summer he attended Interlochen Bass Institute in Michigan. Shortly after Mason’s death, his family was informed that Mason had been accepted to Oberlin College and Conservatory and the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. Austin Soundwaves has launched a full-scholarship initiative, the Draylen Mason Fellows Program, to provide free music instruction and mentorship to high school musicians.