David Newman is one of today’s most accomplished creators of music for film. In his career of more than thirty years, he has scored more than 110 films, ranging from War of the Roses, Matilda, Bowfinger, and Heathers to the more recent Girls Trip, Night School, and Serenity. His music has brought to life the critically acclaimed dramas Brokedown Palace and Hoffa; such comedies as Galaxy Quest and Throw Momma from the Train; and the award-winning animated films Ice Age, The Brave Little Toaster, and Anastasia (for which he holds an Academy Award nomination).
In 2021, after a decade of conducting numerous live music-to-film concerts for the classic West Side Story film, Newman arranged the score to Steven Spielberg’s bold new re-imagining of the legendary musical, earning him a Grammy Award nomination in 2022.
As a highly sought-after conductor, Newman appears with leading orchestras throughout the world, including the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. In 2017 Newman led the world premiere of John Williams’s epic film series, Star Wars—Episodes IV, V, VI, and VII, with the New York Philharmonic. In 2020 he conducted the world premiere of his score to the film Galaxy Quest with the San Diego Symphony during Comic-Con, and in 2021 he was invited by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles for its inaugural concerts of The Wizard of Oz with the American Youth Symphony.
For Newman, the son of nine-time Oscar-winning composer Alfred Newman, creating and conducting music has been a lifelong pursuit. An active composer for the concert hall, he has written works performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, as well as at the Ravinia Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival. He also composed a suite for solo violin and orchestra for Sarah Chang based on the songs from West Side Story.
David Newman has served on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School in the film scoring program. He is married to Krystyna and is the father of Diana and stepdaughter Brianne.
June 2025
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSOA by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
