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IMDbPro

David Campbell(LIX)

  • Music Department
  • Composer
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
David Campbell
David R. Campbell was born in Toronto Canada, but moved to Seattle at a young age and spent most of his childhood there. From age 10, he learned violin, viola and piano, and early on became fascinated with orchestration and conducting. During this time he was a student of Scottish viola icon William Primrose, as well as Seattle maestro, Vilem Sokol.

In high school, he formed a string quartet with friends, including schoolmate David Harrington. Campbell played with this group throughout high school and college. Then, while attending Manhattan School of Music, he played several seasons with the American Symphony at Carnegie Hall under the legendary Leopold Stokowski.

After years of classical music, David gave in to a long curiosity about orchestration in rock, pop and jazz, and began playing on LA and New York studio sessions and in various rock and bluegrass bands. During the early '70s, he played on many Motown classics including Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On", as well as sessions with Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Carole King's "Tapestry", Jackson Browne, Arlo Guthrie, Barry White, Barbara Streisand and Bill Withers' "Lean On Me". During this period, he began arranging strings and horns, and it soon became his main focus. For the rest of the decade there were many prominent albums and singles with David Campbell arrangements including No. 1 albums and songs by James Taylor and Jackson Browne.

As David's arranging career progressed, he developed an interest in composing for film, and by the mid '80s had scored several independent films including Night of the Comet, as well as major studio releases like Tom Cruise's follow up to Risky Business, All the Right Moves. Continuing to arrange for such artists like Bette Midler and Linda Ronstadt, during this period he also spent considerable time songwriting, producing bands, and composing music for plays as well as commercials for George Lucas, Panasonic and Sony.

With the success and Grammy acclaim of Linda Ronstadt's late '80s return to pop, Cry Like a Rainstorm, featuring several Campbell orchestral arrangements, he decided to once again specialize in arrangements for strings and horns. Throughout the 90s David worked on albums including Leonard Cohen's The Future, Willie Nelson's Healing Hands of Time, Green Day's Nimrod, Beck's Mutations and Midnight Vultures, and #1 hits like "Iris" (Goo Goo Dolls), "Uninvited" (Alanis Morissette).

From that period to the present, he has built up an eclectic discography in modern rock, country, hip hop and R & B, mainstream pop, Spanish rock, Latin pop, Japanese pop, rock & jazz and other international markets - a combination of all his early interests and influences. He now works across multiple genres from Black Sabbath and Metallica all the way to Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift and everything in between. A short list includes "Sea Change" (Beck), "Time of Your Life" (Green Day), "Tal Vez" (Ricky Martin), "Jaded" (Aerosmith), "Under My Skin" (Avril Lavigne), "100 Years" (Five for Fighting), "Bring Me to Life" (Evanescence), "I Hope You Dance" (Lee Ann Womack), "Not Ready to Make Nice" (Dixie Chicks), "Breaking the Habit" (Linkin Park), "The Black Parade" (My Chemical Romance), "My Wish" (Rascal Flatts), "Because of You" (Kelly Clarkson), and "21" (Adele) - as well as recent No. 1s from Miley Cyrus ("Wrecking Ball"), Taylor Swift (Red), Josh Groban (All that Echoes), Tim McGraw (Two Lanes of Freedom), Muse (The 2nd Law), Beck(Morning Phase) and Pink (The Truth about Love). The official song of the London Olympics, "Survival," featured a collaborative choir arrangement by Muse and Campbell.

He has arranged and conducted scores for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Oliver Stone's W, August Osage County, Dead Man Walking and the Oscar-winning score for Brokeback Mountain. As an arranger/conductor for motion picture songs, Campbell worked on Armageddon, Dreamgirls, City of Angels, Daredevil, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Men in Black 2, The Land Before Time, Spiderman 2, Ladder 49, the Oscar-nominated song from Pearl Harbor (Faith Hill), and the Oscar-winning song "You'll Be in My Heart" from Tarzan.

He has guest-conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Dallas, Nashville, and Baltimore symphonies, the Tokyo Philharmonic, and the Melbourne Symphony, and at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Olympics. In recent years, he conducted at the Hollywood Bowl for The XX, Sheryl Crow, Death Cab for Cutie, Faith Hill, Ray LaMontagne, Willie Nelson, and Beck. In 2013, he co-arranged and conducted the 167-member orchestra for Beck's "Sound & Vision" 360 video project, sponsored by Lincoln Motor Company.

In 2010, he wrote incidental music, arrangements and orchestrations for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which in 2012 set the record for highest single-week gross and highest single week attendance for any production in the history of Broadway. The musical was directed by Julie Taymor, and featured music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge.

Overall, his work appears on more than 425 gold or platinum albums. During his long recording career, albums on which he worked have received 50 Grammys, and his film work has earned two Oscars for music.
Born1948
  • More at IMDbPro
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    • Agent info
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Born1948
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
    • 1 nomination total

Photos18

David Campbell with Bono and The Edge
David Campbell with Mick Jagger
David with Flea and Josh Groban
David Campbell playing in concert
David Campbell
David Campbell
David Campbell
David with his wife and Leonard Cohen
David Campbell with Greg Kurstin recording the music for the film Annie (2014)
David Campbell with Thom Yorke
David Campbell performing with Death Cab for Cutie at the Hollywood Bowl
David Campbell with Rob Cavallo and Phil Collins for Tarzan Soundtrack

Known for

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Brokeback Mountain
7.7
  • Music Department(strings)
  • 2005
The Oscars (2021)
The Oscars
3.6
TV Special
  • Music Department("io sì")
  • 2021
Pierce Brosnan, Minnie Driver, Idina Menzel, Billy Porter, Camila Cabello, and Nicholas Galitzine in Cinderella (2021)
Cinderella
4.3
  • Music Department
  • 2021
Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
7.5
  • Music Department
  • 2010

Credits

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IMDbPro

Music Department

  • Promised Land (2022)
    Promised Land
    • arranger
    • conductor
    • orchestrator (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • Tom Hanks, Seamus, and Caleb Landry Jones in Finch (2021)
    Finch
    • arranger
    • conductor
    • orchestrator
    • 2021
  • Billie Eilish in Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles (2021)
    Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles
    • arranger
    • 2021
  • Pierce Brosnan, Minnie Driver, Idina Menzel, Billy Porter, Camila Cabello, and Nicholas Galitzine in Cinderella (2021)
    Cinderella
    • orchestral arranger
    • 2021
  • Ben Platt in Ben Platt: Yoü and I (From Born This Way Reimagined) (2021)
    Ben Platt: Yoü and I (From Born This Way Reimagined)
    • arranger: strings
    • Music Video
    • 2021
  • The Oscars (2021)
    The Oscars
    • arranger: "io sì"
    • TV Special
    • 2021
  • Liu Yifei in Mulan (2020)
    Mulan
    • arranger
    • orchestrator
    • 2020
  • Francesca Hayward in Cats (2019)
    Cats
    • additional arranger
    • orchestrator
    • 2019
  • Oakes Fegley in The Goldfinch (2019)
    The Goldfinch
    • conductor
    • orchestrator
    • 2019
  • Eric Clapton in Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (2017)
    Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars
    • arranger
    • conductor
    • orchestrator
    • 2017
  • Chris Rock in The Oscars (2016)
    The Oscars
    • arranger: "Blackbird"
    • TV Special
    • 2016
  • Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy (2015)
    Joy
    • arranger
    • orchestrator
    • score conductor
    • 2015
  • Colombia: Wild Magic (2015)
    Colombia: Wild Magic
    • music by
    • 2015
  • Paper Tigers (2015)
    Paper Tigers
    • composer: additional music - "Where Were You Now"
    • 2015
  • Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, and Quvenzhané Wallis in Annie (2014)
    Annie
    • orchestrator (as David Richard Campbell)
    • 2014

Composer

  • Americana (2022)
    Americana
    • Composer
    • Short
    • 2022
  • Ksenia Solo in In Search of Fellini (2017)
    In Search of Fellini
    • Composer
    • 2017
  • Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy (2015)
    Joy
    • Composer (music by)
    • 2015
  • Colombia: Wild Magic (2015)
    Colombia: Wild Magic
    • Composer
    • 2015
  • The Brothers Warner (2007)
    The Brothers Warner
    • Composer
    • TV Movie
    • 2007
  • Leonard Cohen: Dance Me to the End of Love (1995)
    Leonard Cohen: Dance Me to the End of Love
    • Composer
    • Short
    • 1995
  • Sean Young and Edward James Olmos in Mirage (1995)
    Mirage
    • Composer (as David Richard Campbell)
    • 1995
  • Movies Money Murder (1993)
    Movies Money Murder
    • Composer
    • 1993
  • Mind Games (1989)
    Mind Games
    • Composer (as David Richard Campbell)
    • 1989
  • Trying Times (1987)
    Trying Times
    • Composer
    • TV Series
    • 1987
  • Stand Alone (1985)
    Stand Alone
    • Composer (as David Richard Campbell)
    • 1985
  • Michael DeLorenzo and Ben Vereen in Breakin' Through (1984)
    Breakin' Through
    • Composer
    • TV Movie
    • 1984
  • Night of the Comet (1984)
    Night of the Comet
    • Composer (as David Richard Campbell)
    • 1984
  • All the Right Moves (1983)
    All the Right Moves
    • Composer (as David Richard Campbell)
    • 1983
  • Puff and the Incredible Mr. Nobody (1982)
    Puff and the Incredible Mr. Nobody
    • Composer
    • TV Movie
    • 1982

Soundtrack

  • Sophia Loren in The Life Ahead (2020)
    The Life Ahead
    • arranger: "Io sì (Seen)"
    • 2020
  • Danny DeVito, Sam Rockwell, Chaka Khan, Phillipa Soo, and Brooklynn Prince in The One and Only Ivan (2020)
    The One and Only Ivan
    • arranger: "Free"
    • 2020
  • Liu Yifei in Mulan (2020)
    Mulan
    • arranger: "Reflection (Mandarin)"
    • 2020
  • Mark Addy, Stephen Graham, and Freddie Fox in The Murders at White House Farm (2020)
    The Murders at White House Farm
    • writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2020
  • Giants (2018)
    Giants
    • writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
    • TV Series
    • 2019
  • Alex Honnold in Free Solo (2018)
    Free Solo
    • arranger: "Gravity"
    • 2018
  • Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys in The Americans (2013)
    The Americans
    • writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
    • TV Series
    • 2018
  • Tu cara me suena (2011)
    Tu cara me suena
    • writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
    • TV Series
    • 2017
  • Idol (2002)
    Idol
    • writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
    • TV Series
    • 2017
  • Octavia Spencer and Sam Worthington in The Shack (2017)
    The Shack
    • arranger: "Keep Your Eyes On Me"
    • 2017
  • Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy in Thoroughbreds (2017)
    Thoroughbreds
    • writer: "Chameleon"
    • 2017
  • Gabby Douglas in Douglas Family Gold (2016)
    Douglas Family Gold
    • writer: "Chameleon"
    • TV Series
    • 2016
  • Rosewater (2014)
    Rosewater
    • writer: "Dance Me to the End of Love"
    • 2014
  • Regina King, Delroy Lindo, Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine, Idris Elba, Sharon Leal, Keith D. Robinson, Columbus Short, Lauren London, and Chris Brown in This Christmas (2007)
    This Christmas
    • arranger: "Silent Night"
    • 2007
  • The Brothers Warner (2007)
    The Brothers Warner
    • arranger: "Harlem Strut"
    • performer: "Harlem Strut"
    • writer: "Me, Myself & I"
    • TV Movie
    • 2007
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • David R. Campbell
  • Born
    • 1948
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Spouses
      Raven Kane1987 - present (1 child)

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Father of musician Beck

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