David Newman is a member of the iconic Hollywood film composing dynasty that began in the 1930s with his father Alfred Newman, who was nominated for 45 Academy Awards and won eleven, his uncle Lionel, his brother Thomas and cousin Randy. David Newman has 106 composing credits to his name for films such as 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' (1989), 'Honeymoon in Vegas' (1992) and 'The Nutty Professor' (1996).
Born in Los Angeles, he trained on the violin and piano as a child and studied violin and orchestral conducting at the University of Southern California. He worked as a violinist on television and movie scores until director Tim Burton hired him to provide the music for his short film 'Frankenweenie' in 1984. Stephen Harek's comedy horror film 'Critters' (1986) launched his feature film career and he went on to score such movies as 'Throw Momma from the Train' (1987), 'The War of the Roses' (1989), 'The Flintstones' (1994), 'Bowfinger' (1999), 'Ice Age' (2002), 'Scooby-Doo' (2002) and 'Tarzan' (2013). His latest film was Michael Tiddes's comedy 'Naked', starring Marlon Wayons, in 2017.
Newman also writes for the concert hall and works steadily as a conductor with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony and the Chicago Symphony. Dedicated to the preservation of movie scores, he is President of the Film Music Society. Most of his concerts feature music from the movies by composers such as Jerry Goldsmith and Danny Elfman. He conducts an annual movie night at the Hollywood Bowl and also regularly at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, one of the stops on his 2017 tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic playing Leonard Bernstein's music from the Academy Award-winning 1961 film 'West Side Story'.
