David Amram, Artist Emeritus of The Village Trip, began his professional life in 1951 as a French hornist in the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC. After serving in the US Army, he moved to New York City in 1955 and played French horn in the jazz bands of Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, and Oscar Pettiford. In 1957, he created and performed in the first ever jazz + poetry readings in New York City with novelist Jack Kerouac, a close friend with whom he collaborated artistically for over 12 years. Since the early 1950s, David has traveled extensively, working as a musician and a conductor in over 35 countries and criss-crossing the United States and Canada.
His many film scores include those forย Pull My Daisyย (1959),ย Splendor in the Grassย (1960) andย The Manchurian Candidateย (1962). He composed the scores for Joseph Pappโs Shakespeare in the Park from 1956 to 1967, and premiered his comic operaย Twelfth Nightย with Pappโs libretto in 1968. From 1964 to 1966, he was the Composer and Music Director for the Lincoln Center Theatre and wrote the scores for Arthur Millerยดs playsย After the Fallย (1964) andย Incident at Vichyย (1966).
Appointed by Leonard Bernstein as the first Composer in Residence for the New York Philharmonic in 1966, David is now one of the most performed and influential composers of our time. The New York Chamber Music Festival chose him as Composer in Residence for its 2016-17 season. His most popular recent symphonic compositions includeย This Land, Symphonic Variations on A Song By Woody Guthrieย (2007), commissioned by the Guthrie Foundation;ย Three Songs, A Concerto for Piano and Orchestraย (2009);ย Greenwich Village Portraits for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestraย (2018); andย Partners: A Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestraย (2018)
He has collaborated as a composer with Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Eugene Ormandy, Sir James Galway, Langston Hughes and Jacques DยดAmboise, and as a musician with Thelonious Monk, Johnny Depp, Hunter S. Thompson, Dizzy Gillespie, Odetta, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Betty Carter, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Paquito DยดRivera, Tito Puente and Jerry Jeff Walker.
In addition to eight honorary doctorates, David has earned several New York City honours, among them the Harold Clurman Spirit Award โfor courageous contribution to the culture of New York City and beyondโ (2014). In 2017, he was made a Lifetime Member of the Actors Studio, received the first annual Lifetime Achievement Award from Folk Music International, and a special award by Farm Aid for 30 years of annual musical collaborations with Willie Nelson and his band to help support Americaยดs family farmers through music.
The subject of the prize-winning full-length feature documentary,ย David Amram: The First Eighty Years, he is the author of three memoirs. A fourth book, Amram@90: Notes from a Promising Young Composer, was published in November of 2022, celebrating his 92nd birthday.
The Village Trip on West 4th Street
September 16 @ 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm
The Music of the Bard: A Celebration of Shakespeare in the Park at 70 With David Amram and Gail Papp and Friends
Bob Dylanโs Village Trip: An Evening of Songs and Stories