David Van Tieghem

Last updated
David Van Tieghem
Born (1955-04-21) 21 April 1955 (age 69)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Origin Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Composer
  • percussionist
  • sound designer
Instruments
  • Percussion
  • synthesizer
  • keyboards
Years active1974–present
Labels
Website vantieghem.com

David Van Tieghem (born April 21, 1955) is an American composer, percussionist and sound designer, best known for his philosophy of utilizing any available object as a percussion instrument and for his collaborations with the experimental artists Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Steve Reich, Robert Ashley and David Byrne. [1]

Contents

Biography

David Van Tieghem was born on April 21, 1955, in Washington, D.C., and was raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey, the first son of artist and educator Joan Ruth Stumpf Van Tieghem and painter, sculptor and designer Richard Francis Van Tieghem, and brother of Richard Joseph Van Tieghem. He studied percussion with Justin DiCioccio, of LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York City. He later attended Manhattan School of Music as a student of the modern percussion pioneer Paul Price. [2] He is married to artist Cate Woodruff and they have one daughter, actress and writer Zoë Van Tieghem.

Career

Van Tieghem received the 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition.

Since 1977, he has been presenting his solo percussion-theater performances in venues throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Composers Showcase series and the Serious Fun! Festival at Lincoln Center.

As a free-lance percussionist, he has worked with Steve Reich, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Talking Heads, David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Pink Floyd, Stevie Nicks, Nona Hendryx, Peter Gordon and the Love of Life Orchestra, Arthur Russell, Howard Shore, Robert Fripp, Deborah Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, Adrian Belew, Chris Spedding, Robert Gordon, John Cale, Mike Oldfield, Tracy Bonham, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Arto Lindsay, Bill Laswell, Jon Gibson, Ned Sublette, Tony Williams, Lenny Pickett, Richard Peaslee, Michael Nyman, Jerry Marotta, John Zorn, Anton Fier, Elliott Murphy, Robert Ashley, Happy Traum and NEXUS Percussion, among others.[ citation needed ]

As an actor and musician, he has appeared in music-theater with Keith Carradine and Ellen Greene at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, in performance-art by Robert Longo, in photographs by William Wegman, and in video art by John Sanborn (media artist) and Kit Fitzgerald, and Nam June Paik. He also played several roles in Robert Ashley's television operas, among many other collaborations.[ citation needed ]

From 1978 to 1983, he played in a number[ quantify ] of soundtracks and scores. In 1984, he released his first solo studio album, These Things Happen , on the Warner Bros. Records label. In 1981, he released a video work named "Ear to the Ground". In 1986, he received a Bessie Award (NY Dance and Performance) for Music. In 1987 He appeared on the critically acclaimed album by Jerry Harrison Casual Gods which spawned a No. 7 hit on the US Album Rock Tracks chart: "Rev It Up". The song appeared in the hit movie Something Wild (1986).

Three years after the release of his first album, a second studio album, Safety in Numbers , was released in 1987 by Private Music. The music video for the song "Galaxy" was a minor hit. His third studio album, Strange Cargo , was released in 1989.[ citation needed ]

Since 1989, Van Tieghem has been composing music for Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, as well as a few film scores. In 1996, he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Sound Design (for The Grey Zone), and was awarded an Obie for Sustained Excellence of Music. In 1998, How I Learned to Drive was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the play completed a run in 1999 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, starring Molly Ringwald, with the original director and design team. Van Tieghem was also nominated for a 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design for Scotland Road . He received two 1999 Drama Desk Award Nominations - Outstanding Music in a Play for The Turn of the Screw and Outstanding Sound Design for Stop Kiss . [3]

An active musician, composer and sound designer, Van Tieghem scored and sound designed the 2010 Broadway play A Behanding in Spokane , starring Christopher Walken, and collaborated on new work with the choreographers Doug Varone and Elizabeth Streb. He released his fourth studio album, Thrown For A Loop, in 2009.[ citation needed ]

In 2011, he was the sound designer for the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia . He also composed original music and designed sound for the Broadway revivals of Born Yesterday (directed by Doug Hughes) and The Normal Heart (winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, directed by George C. Wolfe and Joel Grey). [4]

He was the sound designer, composer and percussionist for the 2013 Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet , starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad, directed by David Leveaux. [5]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Notable collaborations

Laurie Anderson:

Talking Heads:

Brian Eno & David Byrne:

Arcadia:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talking Heads</span> American rock band

Talking Heads was an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City. The band was composed of David Byrne, Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (bass) and Jerry Harrison. Described as "one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the '80s," Talking Heads helped to pioneer new wave music by combining elements of punk, art rock, funk, and world music with "an anxious yet clean-cut image".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Belew</span> American musician, songwriter, and record producer

Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual approach to the instrument, his playing often resembling sound effects or noises made by animals and machines.

<i>Remain in Light</i> 1980 studio album by Talking Heads

Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980, by Sire Records. The band's third and final album to be produced by Brian Eno, Remain in Light was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in New York in July and August 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Levin</span> American bassist (born 1946)

Anthony Frederick Levin is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (1981–2021) and Peter Gabriel. He is also a member of Liquid Tension Experiment, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (1998–2000) and HoBoLeMa (2008–2010). He has led his own band, Stick Men, since 2010.

<i>Discipline</i> (King Crimson album) 1981 studio album by King Crimson

Discipline is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released on 2 October 1981 by E.G. Records in the United Kingdom and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States.

<i>King Crimson on Broadway</i> 1999 live album by King Crimson

King Crimson On Broadway is a live album by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in July 1999. The tracks on the albums were recorded at the Longacre Theater in New York City, New York, US, on November 20, 21, 22, 24 and 25, 1995, as the band was touring to promote the album THRAK.

<i>BBoom: Live in Argentina</i> 1995 live album by King Crimson

B'Boom: Live in Argentina is a live album by the band King Crimson, released in 1995. All songs were recorded between 6 and 16 October 1994 at the Broadway Theatre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, except for "Heartbeat" which was recorded in Córdoba.

<i>Young Lions</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Adrian Belew

Young Lions is the fifth solo album by Adrian Belew released in May 1990 by Atlantic Records. The album featured David Bowie singing on two tracks, "Pretty Pink Rose" and "Gunman", the latter of which Bowie and Belew co-wrote since he was acting as musical director and lead guitarist on the Sound+Vision Tour with Bowie.

<i>Speaking in Tongues</i> (Talking Heads album) 1983 studio album by Talking Heads

Speaking in Tongues is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 1, 1983, by Sire Records. After their split with producer Brian Eno and a short hiatus, which allowed the individual members to pursue side projects, recording began in 1982. It became the band's commercial breakthrough and produced the band's sole US top-ten hit, "Burning Down the House", which reached No. 9 in the Billboard Chart.

<i>Home of the Brave</i> (1986 film) 1986 American film

Home of the Brave is a 1986 American concert film directed by, and featuring the music of, Laurie Anderson. The film's full on-screen title is Home of the Brave: A Film by Laurie Anderson. The performances were filmed at the Park Theater in Union City, New Jersey, during the summer of 1985.

<i>Big Science</i> (Laurie Anderson album) 1982 studio album by Laurie Anderson

Big Science is the debut studio album by American performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson. It was the first of a seven-album deal Anderson signed with Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of a selection of musical highlights from her eight-hour production United States Live, which was itself released as a 5-LP box set and book in 1984.

<i>Mister Heartbreak</i> 1984 studio album by Laurie Anderson

Mister Heartbreak is the second studio album by American avant-garde artist, singer and composer Laurie Anderson, released on February 14, 1984, by Warner Bros. Records.

<i>Strange Angels</i> (Laurie Anderson album) 1989 studio album by Laurie Anderson

Strange Angels is the fifth album overall and fourth studio album by performance artist and singer Laurie Anderson, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1989.

<i>My Life in the Bush of Ghosts</i> (album) 1981 album by Brian Eno and David Byrne

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first collaborative studio album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. It was Byrne's first album without his band Talking Heads. The album integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques. It was recorded before Eno and Byrne's work on Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light, but problems clearing samples delayed its release by several months.

<i>The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads</i> 1982 live album by Talking Heads

The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads is a double live album by the American new wave band Talking Heads, released in 1982 by Sire Records. The first LP features the original quartet in concert and radio recordings in 1977 and 1979, and the second LP features the expanded ten-piece lineup that toured in 1980 and 1981.

<i>Home of the Brave</i> (soundtrack) 1986 soundtrack album from Home of the Brave by Laurie Anderson

Home of the Brave is the third studio album and first soundtrack album by avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson, released in 1986 by Warner Bros. Records. The album is a soundtrack of her concert film of the same name.

<i>Bright Red</i> 1994 studio album by Laurie Anderson

Bright Red is the fifth studio album by American avant-garde musician Laurie Anderson, released by Warner Bros. in 1994.

<i>Vrooom Vrooom</i> 2001 live album by King Crimson

Vrooom Vrooom is a live two CD set by the band King Crimson, recorded in 1995 & 1996, and released in 2001. It features the six member “double trio” lineup of the band, with guitarists Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew, bassists Tony Levin and Trey Gunn, and drummers Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto.

<i>These Things Happen</i> (David Van Tieghem album) 1984 studio album by David Van Tieghem

These Things Happen is the debut studio album by American progressive electronic composer and percussionist David Van Tieghem, released in 1984 by Warner Bros. Records. Van Tieghem produced the album himself, and it was recorded at four separate recording studios in New York City, which were Battery Sound, Right Track Recording, Public Access Synthesizer Studio and Rosewood Sound.

<i>Eyes Wide Open</i> (King Crimson album) 2003 video by King Crimson

Eyes Wide Open is a live 2-DVD set by the British progressive rock band King Crimson, released in 2003. It presents two concerts filmed in the early 2000s, the band lineup featuring Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto.

References

  1. David Van Tieghem by William Ruhlmann; URL accessed December 8, 2008
  2. Kobel, Peter. "Percussionist Van Tieghem Hears A Different Drum", Chicago Tribune , August 18, 1987. Accessed October 29, 2012. "Van Tieghem--tall, angular and soft-spoken--grew up in Ridgewood, N.J., and now lives in downtown Manhattan. He played in a number of rock bands in high school and then studied percussion at the Manhattan School of Music."
  3. David Van Tieghem by David Van Tieghem; URL accessed December 8, 2008
  4. "Van Tieghem Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed September 23, 2015
  5. David Rooney (2013-09-19). "Romeo and Juliet: Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-07-04.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Guggenheim_Fellowships_awarded_in_2007