David Newman
conductor
About this Artist
David Newman is one of today’s most accomplished creators of music for film. In his 30-year career he has scored more than 110 films, ranging from War of the Roses, Matilda, Bowfinger, and Heathers to the more recent Five Flights Up and Serenity. His music has brought to life the critically acclaimed dramas Brokedown Palace and Hoffa; top-grossing comedies Galaxy Quest and Throw Mama from the Train; and award-winning animated films Ice Age, The Brave Little Toaster, and Anastasia. Newman holds an Academy Award nomination for his score to Anastasia and was the first composer to have a piece – 1001Nights – 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 New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and The Cleveland Orchestra. In Fall 2017, Newman conducted the world premiere of John Williams’ epic film series, Star Wars - Episodes IV, V, VI and VII, with the New York Philharmonic. In 2021, after a decade of conducting numerous live music-to-film concerts for the classic West Side Story film, Newman arranged the score for Steven Spielberg’s bold re-imagining of the legendary Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim musical, earning him a Grammy® nomination in 2022.
The son of nine-time Oscar-winning composer Alfred Newman and an active composer for the concert hall, David Newman has composed works that have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, and Long Beach Symphony, as well as 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. Passionate about nurturing the next generation of musicians, Newman serves on the Board of the American Youth Symphony, a 51-year-old pre-professional orchestra based in Los Angeles, and in 2010 he served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival in the Film Scoring Program.
Newman is married to wife Krystyna, and is the father of two girls, Diana and stepdaughter Brianne.