David Newman

David Louis Newman, born Los Angeles, CA, 1954 is Thomas Newman's older brother by one year. He played violin as a child with the Santa Monica Symphony. He studied performance and conducting at the University of Southern California, then worked as a studio musician and free lance conductor.

David was only fifteen when his father, Alfred, died. After college, David began listening to hours of his father’s compositions. He said, “It planted a seed in me that eventually came to fruition.”

David is a frequent collaborator with actor/director Danny De Vito. He has scored Throw Mama from the Train (1987), The War of the Roses (1989), Other People’s Money (1991), Hoffa (1992), Matilda (1996) and Death to Smoochy (2002). He has also scored the comedies, The Flintstones (1994), The Mighty Ducks (1992), The Nutty Professor (1996) and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989).

David has composed almost a hundred film scores, but he has received only one Academy Award nomination. In 1997 he was nominated for Best Original Music Score, for the animated feature film Anastasia.

Beginning In 1997 David was music director for the Sundance Institute for four years and he has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra on several occasions. He also re-recorded the “Twentieth Century Fox” Fanfare composed by his father Alfred.

Says David, “My father was a huge influence on me in all aspects of music and in the whole idea that you could get everyone together to do something extraordinarily beautiful. The collaborative and the performance and the music all rolled into one.”