James Newton Howard

James Newton Howard had already built a solid reputation in soft rock circles as a keyboardist, songwriter, producer, and arranger when he established himself as a leading composer for film and television in the 1990s. His earlier credits encompassed tours and sessions alongside Elton John plus contributions to projects by Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, and Toto. The 1985 comedy Head Office marked his initial foray into screen scoring, followed by an Academy Award nomination for the 1991 drama The Prince of Tides. Versatile enough to supply wistful chamber textures, light comedic cues, or tense and propulsive orchestral writing, Howard grew especially sought-after for the latter style in the 2000s, largely through repeated partnerships with director M. Night Shyamalan. An Emmy arrived in 2001 for the main theme to Gideon's Crossing, and he shared a Grammy with Hans Zimmer in 2009 for the score to The Dark Knight. Later franchise assignments encompassed The Hunger Games series, the Fantastic Beasts films, and the Bourne entries. For the 2023 release Night After Night: Music from the Movies of M. Night Shyamalan he composed eight original suites centered on piano.

Born in Los Angeles in 1951, Howard began classical piano instruction at age four on an instrument belonging to his grandmother, a violinist and concertmaster with the Pittsburgh Symphony during the 1930s and 1940s. He pursued further training at the USC School of Music and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara under Reginald Stewart and Leon Fleisher, and he also worked with orchestrator Marty Paich, who would later lead performances of several Howard scores. After completing his studies he joined the short-lived rock group Mama Lion, whose albums Preserve Wildlife (1972) and Give It Everything I've Got (1973) appeared on Family Productions in North America and Philips internationally.

Howard next spent several years as a session player for artists such as Diana Ross, Carly Simon, and Leo Sayer while releasing his own self-titled instrumental progressive-rock album in 1974. In 1975 he became a member of Elton John’s touring and recording band, remaining active with him through the mid-1970s and returning for additional tours in 1980 and 1986. Over the ensuing period he also served as songwriter, producer, or arranger for Cher, Earth, Wind & Fire, Rickie Lee Jones, Bob Seger, Rod Stewart, and Barbra Streisand.

Although he occasionally contributed as musician, arranger, or producer to Hollywood projects, Howard made his feature-film composing debut with Alan Howarth on the 1985 comedy Head Office; his first solo credit followed the next year with Wildcats. From 1986 onward he scored films on a full-time basis, amassing multiple credits annually across more than three decades. Moving fluidly among comedies, dramas, and thrillers, he supplied music for box-office successes such as Major League (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), and Flatliners (1990) before receiving an Oscar nomination for The Prince of Tides (1991) and a second nomination for The Fugitive (1993). A third nomination, this time in Best Original Song, recognized his collaboration with Carole Bayer Sager, James Ingram, and Patty Smyth on “Look What Love Has Done” from the 1994 comedy Junior. Another song nod followed for Kenny Loggins’s “For the First Time,” co-written with Jud Friedman and Allan Dennis Rich, from the 1996 romantic comedy One Fine Day. My Best Friend’s Wedding (1998) brought a fifth Oscar nomination, this time for original score. In the late 1990s he began an extended association with M. Night Shyamalan that commenced with the suspense hit The Sixth Sense (1999).

During the 1990s Howard also composed for television, including the theme for ER, and he received the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music for Gideon's Crossing. He continued working with Shyamalan on Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), and The Village (2004), the last of which earned his sixth Oscar nomination. Between 2004 and 2007 he served on ASCAP’s Board of Directors, succeeding the late Elmer Bernstein. At the same time he collaborated with Christopher Nolan on the DC adaptations Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), both scored jointly with Hans Zimmer; the latter picture brought them a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. Additional assignments included Peter Jackson’s 2005 King Kong remake. Sydney Pollack’s Michael Clayton (2008) and the Daniel Craig vehicle Defiance (2009) yielded Howard’s seventh and eighth Oscar nominations.

In the following decade Howard maintained his Shyamalan partnership; their seventh joint project, The Last Airbender, reached theaters in 2010, the same year he accepted a visiting professorship at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2012 he joined three major franchises by scoring The Bourne Legacy, Snow White and the Huntsman, and The Hunger Games. He returned for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Pt. 1 (2004) and 2 (2015). The year 2016 brought The Huntsman: Winter’s War and his entry into the Harry Potter universe with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; its sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, followed in 2018. For Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) he adapted Tchaikovsky’s suite and supplied additional material, recorded by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel with pianist Lang Lang. In 2019 he scored Terrence Malick’s World War II drama A Hidden Life, and in 2020 he composed the Paul Greengrass western News of the World. A return to the Wizarding World arrived in 2022 with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Among his 2023 releases were the crime drama Pain Hustlers and the franchise installment The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Also appearing that year on Sony Classical was Night After Night: Music from the Movies of M. Night Shyamalan, featuring eight newly composed suites performed by pianists including Jean-Yves Thibaudet together with violinist Hilary Hahn and cellist Maya Beiser.