Tag Archives: David Newman

Scripts for the Hollywood Bowl

It’s been a pleasure to write scripts not only for myself — both for radio and live concert appearances — but for others, especially at the Hollywood Bowl in recent years, often for their “Big Picture” nights when the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra performs movie music. This year I wrote three: for an evening of music from Alfred Hitchcock films, hosted by Eva Marie Saint (who was delightful to work with); for the Motion Picture Academy’s celebration of the “Black Movie Soundtrack”; and a last-minute polish for Jack Black’s hosting of music from DreamWorks Animation. Here find reviews of the Hitchcock show; of the Black Soundtrack evening, hosted by Craig Robinson; and of the DreamWorks bash.programnotesHitchcock-sm I often write the program notes too.

Eva Marie Saint backstage after the performance.

Eva Marie Saint backstage after the performance.

Hosting Elfman concert at Royce Hall

JonDaveNewmanAYS2012-smFor the second installment of the American Youth Symphony’s “Danny Elfman Project,” I interviewed Elfman’s longtime agent Richard Kraft and author Jeff Bond (Danse Macabre) after a performance of the composer’s “Overeager Overture.” The evening concert offered a wide-ranging selection of Elfman music including Milk, Alice in Wonderland, Big Fish and Spider-Man, all brilliantly conducted by David Newman (seen here at right).

Interviewing Danny Elfman at AYS

DannyElfmanJon2012-editAYS-smFor the opening installment of the American Youth Symphony’s three-year “Danny Elfman Project,” I interviewed the composer after a performance of his score for the documentary Standard Operating Procedure, conducted by David Newman. Danny’s always a lively interview, and the audience loved it. That evening I hosted the concert — my fourth for the AYS — introducing Elfman’s music for Batman, Edward Scissorhands and Sommersby. Here‘s an overview of the afternoon and evening performances. The symposium was sponsored by The Film Music Society.

Hosting the final AYS Goldsmith event

TheAYSGoldsmith2011 third and final installment of the American Youth Symphony’s three-year “Goldsmith Project,” saluting the music of Jerry Goldsmith, was in many ways the best yet. The afternoon symposium began with a new 10-minute suite from Under Fire (1983), after which I moderated a panel with frequent Goldsmith collaborators Joe Dante and David Anspaugh plus longtime music editor Kenneth Hall, mixer Bruce Botnick and agent Richard Kraft. Conductor David Newman debuted, for the first time ever in concert, music from Jerry’s Legend (1985) as well as a new 10-minute suite from Poltergeist (1982). Here is a thorough rundown of the Sunday program; the symposium was sponsored by The Film Music Society.

Hosting AYS’s second Goldsmith concert

GoldsmithAYSpanel2010This was one of those “how lucky am I?” moments: Suggesting Jerry Goldsmith’s Emmy-winning Americana score for The Red Pony to conductor David Newman for the afternoon performance, and then watching him conduct a new 15-minute suite from it with musicians from the American Youth Symphony. I moderated a discussion afterwards and, that evening, hosted a concert that included some of my all-time favorite Goldsmith: a new suite from Papillon, unused music (to picture!) from Alien, and music from QB VII and The Omen films. We walked out of there saying, “was this all just a dream?!” Here‘s a rundown of an unforgettable evening at Royce Hall.

Hosting AYS’s Goldsmith concert

JGAYSTZonecoverI was delighted to be asked to moderate a panel, and host a concert, devoted to the music of Jerry Goldsmith. The American Youth Symphony has launched a three-year exploration of Goldsmith’s music, debuting new suites and examining his impact on film music via discussions with friends and colleagues. The afternoon symposium was highlighted by an amazing, live-to-picture re-creation of Goldsmith’s famous Twilight Zone score “The Invaders.” I invited five experts to talk about Jerry and his early years in TV. David Newman conducted new suites from Planet of the Apes, The Sand Pebbles and A Patch of Blue during the evening concert. The Film Music Society sponsored the symposium and published a piece about Jerry and Twilight Zone for attendees. An overview is here.