His Music Silenced By A Bomb, Austin Prodigy's Force Continues

AUSTIN, TX — The life of Draylen Mason, 17, was cut short last month when he became the youngest casualty of a serial bomber who terrorized the Austin area during a three-week span. As details of Mason's precocious musical gifts and impressive academic path became known, the already substantial sense of loss intensified.

He was a musical prodigy, an exceptionally gifted young man, a force for social change fueled by persistence and creativity. That force may very well continue despite his death.

An effort to memorialize Mason — killed when he opened a package rigged to explode that also injured his mother — has been launched. Word came after the young man's death that he had been accepted to the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio from where he would've graduated in the class of 2022 had he lived. Now, an alumnus of the school has created a change.org petition asking the school to honor Mason with a posthumous degree. At last check, the page was nearing its goal of securing 25,000 signatures.

“As a proud Oberlin Conservatory alumnus, and person of color in the arts industry, I call on the Oberlin Conservatory of Music to recognize Draylen Mason and his family’s struggle by awarding him a Posthumous Bachelor of Music Degree,” the campaign drive creator, Joshua Blue, wrote in the petition.

"But most importantly, I challenge them to set up a fully funded scholarship in his name (with the permission of his family) for people of color to attend the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, continuing our institution’s role in changing the status quo around race in our profession, and our country.”

Mason was well on his way to an accomplished career in music. A senior at East Austin College Prep at at the time of his death, he was the principal bassist for the Austin Youth Orchestra and Austin Soundwaves, another local music program, which uses music as a vehicle for social change. He also had been accepted into the University of Texas Butler School of Music.

Young Draylen's teacher, Hermes Camacho, said that he was incredibly vocal about social issues and looked forward to living a life full of charitable work and giving back — a tactic he had begun in his participation with Austin Soundwaves. Camacho worked with Draylen through his years at East Austin College Prep and watched him grow as an individual, a student, and a musician, he told reporters.

"He wanted to be our friend, and we had to be his teacher," Camacho told Teen Vogue. "But we were so looking forward to being his friend and his colleague. "It’s unimaginable what he was going to do for the world."

To sign the petition, click here.

Photo of Draylen Mason via GoFundMe, which is a Patch promotional partner.