David Newman

The Spirit is a kind of postmodern loner hero. He comes from nowhere; he has no real relationship to anything.

People who go to concerts hear Beethoven's symphonies hundreds of times, but 'Star Trek' is recorded, so it's not played all the time.

I'm not very interested in pops concerts. I'm interested in special events.

There's a thing about film composing and conducting in my family.

Film music has a great history of composers and performers.

We had a normal childhood. I played baseball, and we played violin in orchestras three times a week. I learned more from that than anything else.

We went to a very liberal Episcopalian church. It didn't take for me.

I actually played violin on 'E.T.' I used to be a violinist.

I think John Williams, him and his team, have been incredible orchestrators. By that, I mean how he chooses which instrument plays which note.

I had no interest or intention of ever writing music. I was a professional violinist in my 20s. I was obsessed with conducting, and I was conducting as much as I could, and I was studying as much as I could. I went to USC; I got an undergrad degree in violin and a master's degree in conducting.

I think there has never ever been a career like John Williams'. That whole 'Jaws' phenomenon - there's nobody that knows how to use music like Spielberg, and John is just the perfect analog to Spielberg.

Playing in an orchestra is where I learned the most about music.

To this day, I adore classical music, and I'm very interested in opera, which I found out later my father was also extremely fond of.

I want to write theater pieces, opera, or some kind of amalgamation where there is singing, music and theater.

I'll probably always write film scores. It's the one place where a composer has almost unlimited resources at his beck and call. When music you have written works well in a film, nothing can beat it.