A composer of our time
Presented By:
Kelsey Boyd, Whitney Freeman, Matthew
Marcotte, and Matt Wilkins

• Thomas’ father, Alfred Newman, was a legendary composer, conductor, and music director.
• Thomas’ brother David and his cousin Randy are also film composers. David is best known for Anastasia , while Randy is known for composing for Toy Story , The Natural , and Meet the Parents.
• Thomas’ sister, Maria, is a well-known concert violinist and violist, credited as being the concert mistress for The Rapture and Fried Green Tomatoes .
• Thomas has three uncles who are also well known in the music industry, one who was the former head of music at Fox, and one that was the former vice-president at
Goldwyn.

• Newman attended University of Southern
California for two years, then went to Yale where he earned his masters in music.
• After college, Newman played around in bands and did some small work for theatres.
• Newman played keyboards with two groups,
The Innocents and Tokyo 77.
• Newman also watched his uncle who at that time was the head of music at Fox, where he got the chance to orchestrate one of the cues from Return of the Jedi.

• In 1984, a long time friend of Newman’s,
Scott Rudin, asked Thomas to help him with the music for a film that he was producing.
This turned out to be Reckless , which would be Newman’s first movie to provide music for and his first step in his father’s shadow.
• Newman’s breakthrough movie was
Desperately Seeking Susan , in which he wrote, “based upon picking up certain kinds of rhythms and making them groove in the most interesting way possible.”
• The score that got him real recognition as a film composer was The Rapture .

• Mainly graceful, serene melodies
• Triumphant, bold orchestral works
• Piano with accompanying strings
– Little Women
– Meet Joe Black
– Pay It Forward

–Dark, serious dramas
• The Green Mile
• The Shawshank Redemption
–Playful comedies
• Finding Nemo
• Unstrung Heroes
–Simple, orchestral scores
• The War
• Fried Green Tomatoes

• Father, Alfred
Newman
– The King and I
– The Grapes of Wrath
• Brother and
Uncles
• Cousin, Randy
Newman
– Toy Story
– Monsters Inc.
– The Three Amigos

• Charles Ives
–Strictly orchestral works; no soundtracks
• John Cage
– 4’33” composer
• Bernard Herrmann
– Psycho
– The Twilight Zone

BMI Film Music Awards- won 6 and included Fried Green Tomatoes
Emmy Awards- nominated for
Against the Law and won for Six
Feet Under
Academy Awards- nominated for 5 but never won, one of which was
Little Women
Grammy Awards- nominated for 2 and won the award for Best Score
Soundtrack Album for American
Beauty

Saturn Award- nominated for
2 which were Meet Joe Black and The Green Mile
AFI Award for the Best
Original Music Score- for
Oscar and Lucinda
Golden Globe nomination for
Best Original Score- for
American Beauty
BAFTA Award for
Achievement in Film Musicfor American Beauty

Frank Darabont: “What he does is equal to what the actors do and what the writer has done.
He really is a co-storyteller. He manages to elicit an enormous amount of the emotional content of the film without being obvious.”
Joan Avent: “He creates a kind of vicseral situation whereby you’re able to experience the narrative. You won’t see in
Tom’s music a lot of ‘stings’ about hits and ‘look at me’.
Instead, you’ll see a kind of airy weave that allows you to feel what’s going on.”
•
American Beauty: Sam
Mendes says, “Tom’s exquisite score added a dimension to the movie I could not possibly have imagined.”

• One of his first gigs in
Hollywood was orchestrating one of the cues from Return of the Jedi in 1983.
• The first movie he scored was
Reckless in 1984
• His breakthrough did not come until 1985 with the Movie
Desperately Seeking Susan

• Writes in a wide range of music using some different techniques such as rock and techno
• His does well in adapting to the movies story line and creating music that flows along with it.
• He gets credited along with his family but most of his work is original and should be credited alone.

• Name one movie Thomas Newman scored.
• Name one famous musician relative of Thomas Newman’s.

• http://users.pandora.be/obelisk/tnc/
• http://moviemusic.com/composer.asp?id=newmant
• http://www.soundtrackmag.com/thomas_newman.html
• http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/features/200006/tne wman.asp
• http://users.pandora.be/obelisk/tnc/biog.htm
• http://www.musicfromthemovies.com/