Don Davis (composer)

Last updated
Don Davis
Birth nameDonald Romain Davis
Born (1957-02-04) February 4, 1957 (age 67)
Anaheim, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • conductor
  • orchestrator
Years active1979–present
Labels Varèse Sarabande

La-La Land Records

Albany Records
Website www.dondavis.net

Donald Romain Davis (born February 4, 1957) is an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator known for his film and television scores. He has also composed opera, concert and chamber music.

Contents

Davis has collaborated with well-known directors including the Wachowskis, Ronny Yu, and Joe Johnston in genres ranging from horror, to action, to comedy. His best known works include music for the first three films of The Matrix franchise, and the television series Beauty and the Beast and seaQuest 2032 .

Davis has been nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, winning twice for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. He has also won four BMI Film Music Awards.

Early life and education

Davis was born in Anaheim, California. He began playing trumpet and piano at the age of nine, and started writing music at twelve. As his affinity for music grew, so did his aspirations, and soon he was composing and arranging orchestral charts for local jazz ensembles that he also performed with.[ citation needed ]

After graduating from high school, Davis enrolled at UCLA. He continued his study of musical composition with tutor Henri Lazarof. Additionally, he learned orchestration from Albert Harris. [1]

Career

During their orchestration lessons, Harris introduced Davis to the TV composer Joe Harnell, who supported Davis during his search for workhis first job was working for composer Mark Snow's TV show Hart to Hart . He has worked as an orchestrator and conductor for Michael Kamen, Alan Silvestri, James Horner, and Randy Newman.[ citation needed ]

Davis was nominated for the Emmys in 1990 for Beauty and the Beast and won in 1995 for SeaQuest DSV . [2] He wrote scores mostly for television series up until 1995, in which he wrote a few of the cues for the animated Disney motion picture A Goofy Movie . He continued to score television series until the two then young directors, the Wachowskis, hired him to score their neo-noir film Bound . It was reasonably successful at the box office. Bound was the film which led Davis into becoming the composer for the entire Matrix trilogy. Subsequently, Davis has composed scores for films such as Universal Soldier: The Return , Jurassic Park III (recommended to the filmmakers by John Williams, the composer of the scores for the first two films in the series), House on Haunted Hill , Behind Enemy Lines , and The Unsaid . In 2004, he produced the music score for the BBC science fiction documentary series Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets , released as Voyage to the Planets and Beyond in the United States.

Davis' magnum opus is the Matrix franchise: The Matrix , The Matrix Reloaded , The Matrix Revolutions , and The Animatrix . It was set apart from other film scores of its time for its atonality and avant garde style of composition, with influences from polytonal minimalist works by John Adams and cluster-like as well as aleatoric techniques prominent in the works of composer Witold Lutosławski.

In addition to orchestrating and conducting his own scores, Don Davis has done orchestration work for many other composers. He was the conductor for the movie Flowers in the Attic , whose score was composed by Christopher Young, and for the TV documentary Eagles: Hell Freezes Over. He arranged music for The 86th Academy Awards as well. He is also regular orchestrator for Randy Newman.

Don Davis' political opera, Río de Sangre , premiered at the Florentine Opera Company on October 22, 2010. Excerpts of the opera had previously been performed in Los Angeles with the Los Angeles Master Chorale on November 6, 2005, and the New York City Opera on May 13, 2007.

Personal life

Davis currently splits his time between Southern California and British Columbia, Canada. He has been married to Megan MacDonald since 1986, and they have two children together.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirector(s)Notes
1984 Hyperspace Todd Durham
1988 Blackout Doug Adams
1991 Session Man Seth WinstonShort film
1992 Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation VariousComposed with Steven Bramson, Bruce Broughton, Albert Lloyd Olson, Richard Stone, Stephen James Taylor & Mark Watters
1994A Little Tailor's Christmas Story Allan Rich Short film
1996 Bound The Wachowskis
1997 Warriors of Virtue Ronny Yu
1998 The Lesser Evil David Mackay
1999 Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying
The Matrix The Wachowskis
Universal Soldier: The Return Mic Rodgers
House on Haunted Hill William Malone
2001 Antitrust Peter Howitt
Valentine Jamie Blanks
Jurassic Park III Joe Johnston Original Jurassic Park themes by John Williams
The Unsaid Tom McLoughlin
Behind Enemy Lines John Moore
2002 Long Time Dead Marcus Adams
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever Kaos
2003 The Matrix Reloaded The Wachowskis
The Animatrix VariousComposed with Machine Head & Photek
The Matrix Revolutions The Wachowskis
2004 Mighty Times: The Children's March Robert Houston Documentary short
2006 The Marine John Bonito
2007 The Good Life Steve Berra
Ten Inch HeroDavid Mackay
2017 Tokyo Ghoul Kentarō Hagiwara
A Symphony of HopeBrian Weidling Documentary film
2018 Beyond the Sky Fulvio Sestito

Orchestration work

YearFilmComposerNotes
1986 Police Academy 3: Back in Training Robert Folk Credited as additional orchestrator.
1987 Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol
1988 The In Crowd Mark Snow
1990 Die Hard 2 Michael Kamen
1991 If Looks Could Kill David Foster
Hudson Hawk Michael Kamen
Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves
Ricochet Alan Silvestri
1992 Death Becomes Her
The Muppet Christmas Carol Miles Goodman
Paul Williams
Uncredited
1993 Cop and a Half Alan Silvestri
Last Action Hero Michael KamenUncredited
Hocus Pocus John Debney
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story James Horner
The Pelican Brief
1994 When a Man Loves a Woman Zbigniew Preisner Also composed additional music.
Clean Slate Alan SilvestriUncredited
Maverick Randy Newman
Thumbelina Barry Manilow
William Ross
Uncredited
I Love Trouble David Newman
Clear And Present Danger James Horner
The Pagemaster
Legends of the Fall Uncredited
1995 A Goofy Movie Carter Burwell Also composed additional music & orchestrated and conducted by
Casper James Horner
Apollo 13 Uncredited
Toy Story Randy Newman
Balto James Horner
1996 James And The Giant Peach Randy NewmanAlso did song arrangements
The Phantom David NewmanUncredited
Courage Under Fire James Horner
Ransom
Michael Randy Newman
1997 Titanic James HornerCredited as additional orchestrator
1998 Pleasantville Randy Newman
A Bug's Life
Lost in Space Bruce Broughton
2000 Meet The Parents Randy Newman
2010 Toy Story 3
2017 Cars 3
2019 Toy Story 4
Marriage Story

Television

YearTitleNotes
1983 Square Pegs 2 episodes
1983–84 Hart to Hart 4 episodes
1986 Kay O'Brien Episode: “Wreck the Halls”
1987 Sledge Hammer! 2 episodes
1987–90 Beauty and the Beast 48 episodes
1990 Matlock Episode: “The Personal Trainer”
1991 My Life and Times Episode: “The Collapse of '98”
1990–91 Tiny Toon Adventures 5 episodes
1992 The Plucky Duck Show Episode: "A Ditch in Time"
1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode: "Face of the Enemy"
1992–95 Capitol Critters 8 episodes
1993–94 Taz-Mania 4 episodes
1994–95 SeaQuest 2032 13 episodes
1995 CBS Schoolbreak Special Episode: "Between Mother and Daughter"

Television films and limited series

YearTitleDirectorNotes
1988 Bluegrass Simon Wincer
A Stoning in Fulham County Larry Elikann
Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story Roy Campanella II
1989 Home Fires Burning Glenn Jordan
1990 Running Against Time Bruce Seth Green
1991 Lies Before Kisses Lou Antonio
A Little Piece of Heaven Mimi Leder
1992 Notorious Colin Bucksey
Woman with a Past Mimi Leder
1993 Country Estates Donald Petrie
Murder of Innocence Tom McLoughlin
1994 In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness Jeff Bleckner
Leave of Absence Tom McLoughlin
1995 Sleep, Baby, Sleep Armand Mastroianni
1996 For Love Alone: The Ivana Trump Story Michael Lindsay-Hogg
In the Lake of the Woods Carl Schenkel
The Beast Jeff Bleckner
The Perfect Daughter Harry Longstreet
Doomsday Virus Eric Laneuville
1997 Alibi Andy Wolk
Not in This Town Donald Wrye
A Match Made in Heaven Paul Wendkos
Weapons of Mass Distraction Stephen Surjik
The Third Twin Tom McLoughlin
House of Frankenstein Peter Werner
1998 The Lake David Jackson
Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story Waris Hussein
Route 9 David Mackay
1999 In the Company of Spies Tim Matheson
2000 Hell Swarm Tim Matheson
Race Against Time Geoff Murphy
Personally Yours Jeffrey Reiner
2002 Murder in Greenwich Tom McLoughlin
2004 Space Odyssey Joe Ahearne Documentary
2006Augusta, GoneTim Matheson

Other works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Strauss</span> German composer and conductor (1864–1949)

Richard Georg Strauss was a German composer and conductor best known for his tone poems and operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Along with Gustav Mahler, he represents the late flowering of German Romanticism, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Morley</span> English composer and conductor

Angela Morley was an English composer and conductor who became familiar to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s under the name of Wally Stott. Morley notably provided incidental music for The Goon Show and Hancock's Half Hour. She attributed her entry into composing and arranging largely to the influence and encouragement of the Canadian light music composer Robert Farnon. Morley transitioned in 1972 and thereafter lived openly as a transgender woman. Later in life, she lived in Scottsdale, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erich Wolfgang Korngold</span> Austrian-born American composer and conductor (1897–1957)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austrian composer and conductor, who adopted US nationality after fleeing from Europe. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and composer of classical music, along with music for Hollywood films, and the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood scores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Davis</span> US–UK conductor and composer (1936–2023)

Carl Davis was an American-born British conductor and composer. He wrote music for more than 100 television programmes (notably the landmark ITV series World At War and BBC's Pride and Prejudice, created new scores for concert and cinema performances of vintage silent movies and composed many film, ballet and concert scores that were performed worldwide, including the Liverpool Oratorio in 1991. Davis's publisher was Faber Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Beal</span> American composer (born 1963)

Jeff Beal is an American composer of music for film, television, recordings, and the concert hall. Highly regarded as a jazz instrumentalist and versatile composer, Beal creates music that often incorporates a synthesis of improvisatory and composed elements.

Joey Newman is an American film composer, orchestrator, arranger and conductor working in the fields of film and television.

Morton Stevens was an American film score composer. In 1965, he became director of music for CBS West Coast operations. He is probably best known for composing the theme music for Hawaii Five-O, a CBS television series for which he won two Emmy Awards in 1970 and 1974. Stevens was taught by Oscar-winning composer Jerry Goldsmith, with whom he frequently collaborated on other projects.

Lee Elwood Holdridge is a Haitian-born American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. An 18-time Emmy Award nominee, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two News and Documentary Emmy Awards, and one Sports Emmy Award. He has also been nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Jonathan Alfred Clawson Redford is an American composer, arranger, orchestrator, and conductor. He is also the author of Welcome All Wonders: A Composer's Journey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Faris</span> Northern Irish composer and conductor (1921–2015)

Samuel Alexander "Sandy" Faris was a Northern Irish composer, conductor and writer, known for his television theme tunes, including the theme music for the 1970s TV series Upstairs, Downstairs. He composed and recorded many operas and musicals, and also composed film scores and orchestral works. As a conductor, he was especially known for his revivals of Jacques Offenbach and Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesley Barber</span> Canadian composer

Lesley Barber is a Canadian composer of music for film, theatre, chamber and orchestral ensembles and she is also a conductor, pianist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Barber is best known for composing the film scores for Manchester by the Sea, Late Night, You Can Count on Me, Mansfield Park, Irreplaceable You, Hysterical Blindness, When Night Is Falling, and composing music for the animated television series Little Bear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Febre</span> Mexican born composer

Louis Febre is a Mexican born composer, best known for his work on the television series Smallville. He also won an Emmy Award for his score to The Cape in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Bellon</span> Musical artist

Roger Bellon is a French film, television, theatre and opera composer, conductor, orchestrator and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Pritsker</span> Russian-born musician (born 1971)

Gene Pritsker is a Russian-born composer, guitarist, rapper and record producer living in New York City. He moved to the United States with his family in 1978 and lived in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. He attended the Manhattan School of Music from 1990 to 1994 where he studied composition with Giampaolo Bracali.

Benjamin Mark Lasker Wallfisch is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer, known for his work on film scores. He has contributed to over 50 feature films since the mid-2000s, including notable works like Blade Runner 2049, Shazam!, It, It Chapter Two, The Invisible Man, Hidden Figures, A Cure for Wellness, The Flash, Twisters, and Kraven the Hunter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Harper (composer)</span> American composer

Scott Elder Harper is an American composer, arranger and musician for motion picture and television scores and orchestra, as well as a multi-instrumentalist, conductor, and session-player for pop music. With a background in popular music, Harper has composed theater pieces, oratorios, orchestral chamber works, and dynamic and diverse ensemble arrangements with various instrumental combinations for popular recording artists and film scores alike. His work includes conducting and album arrangements for Celine Dion, Cher, and Olivia Newton-John. He has performed on multiple original motion picture soundtracks, such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1983), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) — scored by John Williams — and The Right Stuff (1983), by Bill Conti, as a double bass player in the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra. He has also composed several original scores for documentary feature films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl Rose (composer)</span> American composer (b. 1946)

Earl Alexander Rose is an American composer, pianist, arranger, and conductor. In addition to writing film and television music, he has also composed several well-known Pop and R&B songs. His film scores include Alan Pakula:Going For Truth, Always at the Carlyle, Johnny Carson: King of Late Night, a PBS American Masters presentation, and the Peabody Winning documentary, Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Clive McCallum</span> Musical artist

Daniel Clive McCallum is a film composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Jonathan Beard is an American orchestrator and composer for media and the concert stage. His credits include Us, The Handmaid's Tale, Despicable Me 3, and Star Wars: Battlefront II. Beard also works as an educator, and currently teaches at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

<i>The Matrix Resurrections</i> (soundtrack) 2021 soundtrack album by Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer

The Matrix Resurrections (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a 2021 soundtrack album from the film, The Matrix Resurrections. WaterTower released the album on December 22, 2021.

References

  1. McCandless, Greg; McIntyre, Daniel (2017). The Craft of Contemporary Commercial Music. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-317-39686-4 . Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  2. "(Don Davis search results)". Emmy Awards. Television Academy. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.