James Newton Howard’s diverse and expansive musical resume has taken audiences from the stone age to outer space and from the depths of the earth to the top of the Empire State Building. This week, Oscar-nominated composer James Newton Howard will be coming to Dallas to play a very limited engagement with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. This special 2 night event will feature Howard playing a number of his most famous themes at the Meyerson Symphony Center from January 13th -14th. In celebration of his upcoming performance, we at G-S-T want to take a brief look back at the amazing career of one of the finest working composers in the film world.
Having scored close to 100 films, Howard has composed theme music to some of the most popular and beloved films of modern times including Pretty Woman, The Sixth Sense, King Kong, Signs, The Village, Michael Clayton, The Fugitive, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (with Hans Zimmer), and many many more. One of the film industry’s most in-demand and versatile composers, James Newton Howard‘s career has found him working with some of the elite and talented filmmakers in the world.
Accomplished like few others in the business, Howard has received eight Oscar nominations (including five for Best Original Score), five Grammy nominations, one Emmy Award and four Golden Globe nominations. In addition, he was honored with ASCAP’s prestigious Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement.
With nearly three decades of experience in the film business his career continues to expand and evolve. Constantly busy, 2011 found him scoring no less than 5 feature length films. With an impressive multitude of successful and iconic films to his credit he continues to reinvent himself and create endlessly enchanting, energetic and emotional themes. He’s a simply a gifted musician and rightly so, one who is highly regarded and sought after in film circles. It is extremely hard to single out a James Newton Howard track or score that really defines him because his work is just so rich, engaging and dynamic.
Personally speaking, I believe Howard has an absolute knack at getting to the very heart of every film he scores. He’s a musical genius who captivates and pulls you deep into the story like few other musicians I can recall. As a fan I don’t mind telling you his work just gives me chills. So to give you a taste of the mastery, beauty and brilliance of James Newton Howard’s work, as a fan, I humbly offer a tiny sampling of the 10 tracks/themes that I find myself constantly revisiting. Again these tracks don’t define his career but they offer a tiny glimpse of the magic he is capable of weaving. Enjoy!
As noted above, James Newton Howard will be playing a 2 night retrospective with the Dallas Symphony focusing on some of his most popular work to date. However, Howard’s 2012 schedule is already quite full scoring films like The Bourne Legacy, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Hunger Games and more. If we’re lucky, we may get to hear a few selections from his upcoming compositions.
Finally, Go,See,Talk has been granted an exclusive interview with Mr. Howard this Friday and we are eagerly looking forward to speaking with this musical genius about his craft. So look forward to the video of our session with him as well as the recap of his Friday night performance. Tickets should still be available so please, click this link to the Dallas Symphony website for information. If you’re a film fan and moreover love film music, I implore you to attend one of James Newton Howard’s performances. You can also click the image below to be taken to the Dallas Symphony website and read more about the events in The Masters of Film Music taking place this calendar year.
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
About the Dallas Symphony Orchestra:
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra has a rich, 109-year history of artistic excellence. As the largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, the DSO is committed to the pursuit of uncompromising musical distinction through innovative and classical programming, and strives to build a community of passionate music lovers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The DSO has grown from a 40-person ensemble to a world-class orchestra since its inception in 1900, and continues to be the cornerstone of the burgeoning Arts District in downtown Dallas; a district now noted as the largest in the nation.
After an exhaustive search, the DSO named Jaap van Zweden as music director beginning in the 2008-2009 season. Eminent music directors such as Antal Dorati, Paul Kletzki, Georg Solti, Eduardo Mata and Andrew Litton laid the groundwork for important elements of today’s DSO, including extensive touring and recording, special community and education concerts and the building of the world-renowned Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.
