RICHARD KAUFMAN BIO
(Rev.9-29-08)
Richard Kaufman has devoted much of his musical life conducting and supervising music for film and television productions, as well as performing film and classical music in concert halls and on recordings. He is currently in his forth season with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert series, “Friday Night at the Movies”, conducting classic and contemporary film music, as well as classical music used in motion pictures. As Principal Pops Conductor, Richard is in his twelfth season with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, his eighteenthseasonwithOrangeCounty’s Pacific Symphony, and his fifth with The Florida Orchestra. Heregularly appears as a guest conductor with symphony orchestras throughout the United States, as well as overseas. Richard made his LA Opera debut, conducting “Concierto para Mendez”, a commissioned work based on the life of trumpet legend Rafael Mendez with music by Lee Holdridge.
Richard received the 1993Grammy Award in the category of BestPop Instrumental Performance for a recording he conducted with the Nuremberg Symphony (“Symphonic Hollywood” – Varese Sarabande). His most recent recording, entitled “The High and the Mighty” (Varese Sarabande)is with the London Symphony Orchestra. Recorded at Abby Road Studios, this CD features music from classic and contemporary films about flying. Richard’s other recordings include two CDs of film music performed by the Brandenburg Philharmonic in Berlin (“Historic Romances” and “Captain Blood” – Marco Polo), a second recording with the Nuremberg Symphony celebrating the 100th anniversary of motion pictures (“Movie Memories” – Varese Sarabande), and two critically acclaimed CDs with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (“Wuthering Heights – A Tribute to Alfred Newman” and “Shane – A Tribute to Victor Young” – KOCH).
He has conducted for performers including John Denver, Andy Williams, Mary Martin, Nanette Fabray, Linda Ronstadt, Patti Austin, Dianna Krall, David Copperfield, Monica Mancini, Juliet Prowse, Art Garfunkel and the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. As a violinist, Richard performed on numerous film and television scores including "Jaws", “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “Saturday Night Fever”, and (in a moment of desperation) "Animal House". He has recorded with artists including, John Denver, Burt Bacharach, The Carpenters,Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond and Ray Charles.
RICHARD KAUFMAN BIO (cont.)
(9-29-08)
For two years, Richard served as Music Associate to Lionel Newman at Twentieth Century Fox Studios, and in 1984 joined the Music Department of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios as Music Coordinator. For the next 18 years, Richard worked in the music areas of both feature film and television, and went on to supervise music for all MGM television projects. He received two EmmyAward nominations, one for the animated series, "The Pink Panther" in the category of Outstanding Music Direction and Composition, and another forOutstanding Original Songco-authored for the series, "All Dogs Go to Heaven.” As a unique part of his career in film, Richardhas coached various actors in musical film roles including Jack Nicholson, Dudley Moore, Armande Assante, Susan Sarandon and Tom Hanks.
In the world of Musical Theater, Richard served as Music Director and Conductor for numerous theatrical productions both nationally and for the Los Angeles and San Francisco Civic Light Opera. He was Music Director and Conductor for the First National Companies of "Two Gentlemen of Verona" for Joseph Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival, and "Company" for Hal Prince. He was Music Director/Conductor for a special concert presentation of the Tony Award winning musical “City of Angels” which was personally supervised by writer Larry Gelbart and the legendary Broadway composer Cy Coleman.
Richard has appeared as a guest speaker at various universities includingSouthern California, Georgia, Furman, and CaliforniaStateUniversities at Northridge and Fullerton. He is a member of the Music Advisory Board of the Young Musicians Foundation.
Born in Los Angeles, Richard began violin studies at age 7, played in the Peter Meremblum California Junior Symphony, and was a member of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra. He attended the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood in the Fellowship program, and earned a B.A. in Music from California State University Northridge. Richard lives in Southern California with his wife, Gayle. His daughter, Whitneyis a graduate (with honors) fromChapmanUniversity in Orange, California, and is currently a member of the cast of the National Tour of “Mama Mia”.
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