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James Newton Howard spills his creative guts on WHYY: Studio 2

JAMES NEWTON HOWARD is one of the film industry’s most versatile and honored composers, with a career spanning over thirty years and encompassing more than 140 film and television projects. He is an 9-time Oscar nominee, and Emmy and Grammy winner. Howard has also been honored with ASCAP’s prestigious Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement and the BMI ICON Award.

As a record producer, arranger, and songwriter, he has collaborated with some of pop’s biggest names including Elton John; Crosby, Stills & Nash; Barbra Streisand; Earth, Wind and Fire; Bob Seger; Rod Stewart; Toto; Glenn Frey; Diana Ross; Carly Simon; Olivia Newton-John; Randy Newman; Rickie Lee Jones; and Chaka Khan.

In 1985, he was offered his first film, Head Office, and he quickly knew he had found his calling. He has since created the scores for a broad range of films, recently including Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Jungle Cruise, News of the World, Raya and the Last Dragon, A Hidden Life, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Red Sparrow, Roman J. Israel, Esq., Detroit, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, all four installments of The Hunger Games franchise, Concussion, Nightcrawler and Maleficent.

His long list of credits also include Snow White and the Huntsman, The Bourne Legacy, Salt, Water For Elephants, Batman Begins, Collateral, Snow Falling on Cedars, Outbreak, The Village, Hidalgo, Peter Pan, Wyatt Earp, Lady in the Water, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Freedomland, Dinosaur, Treasure Planet, Signs, Falling Down, Primal Fear, Glengarry Glen Ross, Waterworld, The Devil’s Advocate, Dave, and Pretty Woman among many others. In 2017, Howard completed his first live concert tour, 3 Decades of Music for Hollywood, visiting 15 European cities, with the premiere being held at Royal Albert Hall.

In addition to his contributions to film and television music, Howard has written a number of concert works. He has written two pieces for the Pacific Symphony: I Would Plant a Tree, which debuted in 2009; and his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, which premiered in 2015, featuring renowned violinist James Ehnes. He was also commissioned to write one of the encores for Hilary Hahn’s collection, 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores entitled “133 . . . At Least.”

His chamber work entitled “they have just arrived at this new level” was commissioned and premiered in 2018 by the Seattle Chamber Music Society, of which James Ehnes is principal violinist and artistic director. Most recently, his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra was premiered with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. His upcoming projects include Netflix’s All the Light We Cannot See limited series, the Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and David Yate's Pain Hustlers.

Howard's all-new recording of music for M. Night Shyamalan’s most acclaimed films titled: ‘Night After Night: Music from the Movies of M. Night Shyamalan’ celebrates one of the richest collaborations between a contemporary film director and a composer.  Included on Night After Night are highlights from Howard’s haunting scores that became part of the identity of eight of Shyamalan’s eerie, mind-bending thrillers – The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), The Village (2004), Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010) and After Earth (2013).

For this album, James Newton Howard created eight suites that are piano centric and include new and original material.  Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs throughout the recording. Violinist Hilary Hahn recreates her contributions to the soundtrack recording of the score for The Village, and cellist Maya Beiser reprises her performance of “An Event” from The Happening soundtrack. Gavin Greenaway conducts the orchestra and chorus in Howard’s new arrangements.

WHYY: Studio 2 writes…You’ve heard a James Newton Howard score. The legendary composer has scored 140 films including Pretty Woman, The Fugitive, and The Dark Knight, and he also worked with M. Night Shyamalan for some of his most popular thrillers, like The Sixth Sense and Signs. Howard’s new album, Night After Night, reimagines and extends those classic movie scores. We’ll listen to the music and talk about his creative process and how he puts suspense, terror, and the otherworldly into his compositions.

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