About
DAVID NEWMAN is one of today’s most accomplished creators of music for film. In his 25-year career, he has scored over 100 films, ranging from War of the Roses, Matilda, Bowfinger and Heathers, to the more recent The Spirit, and Serenity, Behaving Badly and Tarzan. Newman’s music has brought to life the critically acclaimed dramas Brokedown Palace and Hoffa; top-grossing comedies Norbit, Scooby-Doo, Galaxy Quest, The Nutty Professor, The Flintstones, Throw Mama From the Train; and award- winning animated films Ice Age, The Brave Little Toaster and Anastasia.
The recipient of top honors from the music and motion picture industries, he holds an Academy Award® nomination for his score to the animated feature, Anastasia, and was the first composer to have his piece, 1001 Nights, performed in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s FILMHARMONIC Series, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Newman is also a highly sought-after conductor and appears with leading orchestras throughout the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Boston Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. He has led subscription weeks with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and regularly conducts the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. He is currently on a mini tour performing live with orchestra the movie West Side Story in major
orchestras in the US and abroad. He just premiered the movie Home Alone with the Cleveland Orchestra. Newman also conducts the annual movie night at the Hollywood Bowl. This September will be his eighth consecutive annual appearance.
Also an active composer for the concert hall, his works have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, and at the Ravinia Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival. He also composed a violin- orchestra suite for Sarah Chang based on the songs from the Broadway hit, West Side Story. Newman has spent considerable time unearthing and restoring film music classics for the concert hall, and headed the Sundance Institute’s music preservation program in the late 1980s. During his tenure at Sundance he wrote an original score and conducted the Utah Symphony for the classic silent motion picture, Sunrise, which opened the Sundance Film Festival in 1989. As a tribute to his work in film music preservation, he was elected President of the Film Music Society in 2007, a nonprofit organization formed by entertainment industry professionals to preserve and restore motion picture and television music.
Passionate about nurturing the next generation of musicians, Newman serves on the Board of the American Youth Symphony, a 55-year-old pre-professional orchestra based in Los Angeles, where in 2008 he launched the three-year "Jerry Goldsmith Project.” This exploration of film music in a symphonic setting developed into the annual Hollywood Project, which has featured the music of Danny Elfman, John Williams, James Horner, and others in live-to-picture concerts.
In 2007 Newman wrote the children’s melodrama Yoko and the Tooth Fairy for Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, and in 2010 he served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival in the Film Scoring Program. Newman is also on the Board of Governors of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. When his schedule permits, he visits Los Angeles area high schools and universities to speak about film scoring and mentor young composers.
The son of nine-time Oscar-winning composer Alfred Newman, David Newman was born in Los Angeles in 1954. He trained in violin and piano from an early age and earned degrees in orchestral conducting and violin from the University of Southern California. From 1977–1982 he worked extensively in the motion picture and television industry as a violinist, playing on such films as E.T., Twilight Zone – The Movie, and the original Star Trek film. He is married to wife Krystyna, and is the father of two girls, Diana and stepdaughter, Brianne. He and Krystyna divide their time between Los Angeles, Carmel-by-the-Sea and New York.