Biography
David Amram has composed more than 100 orchestral and chamber music works, written many scores for Broadway theater and film, including the scores for the films Splendor in the Grass and The Manchurian Candidate; two operas, including the Holocaust opera The Final Ingredient, a comic opera Twelfth Night with a libretto by Joseph Papp; and the score for the 1959 film Pull My Daisy, narrated by novelist Jack Kerouac. He is also the author of three books, Vibrations, an autobiography, Offbeat: Collaborating With Kerouac, a memoir, and Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat, all published by Paradigm Publishers.
A player of jazz French horn, he also plays piano, numerous flutes and whistles, percussion, and dozens of folkloric instruments from 25 countries, as well as being an improvisational lyricist. He has collaborated with Leonard Bernstein, (who chose him as The New York Philharmonic's first composer-in-residence in 1966), Dizzy Gillespie, Langston Hughes, Dustin Hoffman, Sir James Galway, Willie Nelson, Thelonious Monk, Odetta, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Charles Mingus, Steve Martin, Lionel Hampton, Johnny Depp, Pete Seeger, and Tito Puente.
Amram's most recent orchestral works include Giants of the Night, (commissioned and premiered by flutist Sir James Galway in 2002); Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie, (commissioned by the Woody Guthrie Foundation in 2007); and Three Songs: A Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (written for and premiered by pianist Jon Nakamatsu in 2009). He was also chosen as the 2008 Democratic National Convention's Composer In Residence For Public Events. Currently Amram is working on a new orchestral piece, a new chamber work and a new book. He is also the subject of Lawrence Kraman's new documentary feature film David Amram: The First 80 Years.
On November 16, 2011, the eve of his 81st birthday, Amram was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and was recipient of their Jay McShann Lifetime Achievement Award. Three days later he was awarded the 1st Annual Bruce Ricker Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by Clint Eastwood's editor Joel Cox. under the auspices of The Paso Digital Film Festival. He is also the recipient of six honorary Doctorates.
Today, as he has for over 50 years, Amram continues to compose music while traveling the world as a conductor, soloist, bandleader, visiting scholar, and narrator in five languages.
All of his concert music is published by C. F. Peters Corporation. Douglas A. Yeager Productions Ltd represents Amram for all of his live appearances and residencies.
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