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. He has collaborated with well-known directors including the Wachowskis, Ronny Yu, and Jonathan Hensleigh in genres ranging from horror, to action, to comedy.
Some of his best known compositions were scores for Beauty and the Beast (1988), My Life and Times (1991), Lies Before Kisses (1991), A Little Piece of Heaven (1992) and seaQuest 2032 (1995), A Goofy Movie (1995), Bound (1996), House of Frankenstein (1998), Universal Soldier: The Return (1999), House on Haunted Hill (1999), and Behind Enemy Lines (2001), and most notably The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded, The Animatrix, and The Matrix Revolutions (all in 2003).
Davis has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards, winning in 1995 for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. He has also won four BMI Film Music Awards.
Early life and education Davis was born on 4 February 1957 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.
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.
Career During their orchestration lessons, Harris introduced Davis to the TV composer Joe Harnell, who supported Davis during his search for work—his 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, Robert Folk, and Randy Newman.
Davis has been nominated seven times at the Primetime Emmy Awards, winning in 1995. He received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for Beauty and the Beast (1988), and for My Life and Times (1991). He received a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score) for Lies Before Kisses (1991), and A Little Piece of Heaven (1992), and House of Frankenstein (1998). He was twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series in 1994 and 1995 for scores in SeaQuest DSV, winning in 1995.
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 (1995). He continued to score television series until the two then young directors, the Wachowskis, hired him to score their neo-noir film Bound (1996). Davis has composed scores for films such as Universal Soldier: The Return (1999), Hulk (2003), House on Haunted Hill (1999), and Behind Enemy Lines (2001).
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 (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2004), and The Animatrix (2002). 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 Year Title Director(s) Notes 1984 Hyperspace Todd Durham 1988 Blackout Doug Adams 1991 Session Man Seth Winston Short film 1992 Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation Various Composed with Steven Bramson, Bruce Broughton, Albert Lloyd Olson, Richard Stone, Stephen James Taylor & Mark Watters 1994 A Little Tailor's Christmas Story Allan Rich Short film 1996 Bound The Wachowskis 1997 Warriors of Virtue Ronny Yu 1998 The Lesser Evil David Mackay1999 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 Jurassic Park Theme 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 Various Composed 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 Hero David Mackay 2017 Tokyo Ghoul Kentarō Hagiwara A Symphony of Hope Brian Weidling Documentary film 2018 Beyond the Sky Fulvio Sestito
Orchestration work
Year Film Composer Notes1986Police Academy 3: Back in TrainingRobert FolkCredited as additional orchestrator.1987Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol1988The In CrowdMark Snow1990Die Hard 2Michael Kamen1991If Looks Could KillDavid FosterHudson HawkMichael KamenRobin Hood: Prince Of ThievesRicochetAlan Silvestri1992Death Becomes Her The Muppet Christmas CarolMiles GoodmanPaul WilliamsUncredited1993Cop and a HalfAlan SilvestriLast Action HeroMichael KamenUncreditedHocus PocusJohn DebneyWe're Back! A Dinosaur's StoryJames HornerThe Pelican Brief1994When a Man Loves a WomanZbigniew PreisnerAlso composed additional music.Clean SlateAlan SilvestriUncreditedMaverickRandy NewmanThumbelinaBarry ManilowWilliam RossUncreditedI Love TroubleDavid NewmanClear And Present DangerJames HornerThe PagemasterLegends of the FallUncredited1995A Goofy MovieCarter BurwellAlso composed additional music & orchestrated and conducted byCasperJames HornerApollo 13UncreditedToy StoryRandy NewmanBaltoJames HornerUncredited1996James And The Giant PeachRandy NewmanAlso did song arrangementsThe PhantomDavid NewmanUncreditedCourage Under FireJames HornerRansomMichaelRandy Newman 1997TitanicJames HornerCredited as additional orchestrator1998PleasantvilleRandy NewmanA Bug's Life Lost in Space Bruce Broughton2000Meet The ParentsRandy Newman2010Toy Story 32017Cars 32019Toy Story 4Marriage Story2026Toy Story 5
Television Year Title Notes 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 Year Title Director Notes 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 VirusEric Laneuville 1997 Alibi Andy Wolk Not in This TownDonald Wrye A Match Made in HeavenPaul Wendkos Weapons of Mass DistractionStephen Surjik The Third Twin Tom McLoughlin House of FrankensteinPeter Werner 1998 The LakeDavid Jackson Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman StoryWaris 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 2004Space OdysseyJoe AhearneDocumentary 2006 Augusta, Gone Tim Matheson
Other works
Chronym I for flute (1977) Trio for violin, viola & cello (1978) 12 Poems For Jonathan David Wolf for soprano & piano (1978) Chamber Concerto (1978) Timbral Spectra (1979) Chamber Variations (1979) Chronym II (1980) Chamber Symphony (1981) Chronym III (1981) Symphony (1982) Bleeding Particles (1983) Harsh (1988) Bleak (1989) The Eye And The Pyramid (1990) Going On (1991) Green Light (1992) What Is The Silence (1993) Afterimages (1994) Of The Illuminated (1995) Flurry (1996) No Exit (1996) The Enchanted Place Suite (1997) Pain (1998) Illicit Felicity (1999) - Excerpt from “Bound” score Critical Mass (2000) Wandering (2002) A Lunatic Air (On Fire) (2002) Río de Sangre (2005) - Opera in three acts
References
External links
Río De Sangre