Composer James Newton Howard Named New Artistic Director Of The Henry Mancini Institute At University Of Miami Frost School Of Music

News provided by

Apr 17, 2015, 10:55 ET

CORAL GABLES, Fla., April 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- James Newton Howard, one of the most versatile and respected composers currently working in film, was named the new artistic director of the Henry Mancini Institute (HMI) at the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.

James Newton Howard succeeds film composer, trumpeter and bandleader Terence Blanchard, who served with distinction as artistic director since 2008. Howard's term will begin in January 2016, announced Shelton G. Berg, dean of the Frost School of Music.

To date, James Newton Howard has received eight Oscar^® nominations, including six for Best Original Score for his work on Defiance, Michael Clayton, The Village, The Fugitive, The Prince of Tides, and My Best Friend's Wedding. He was also nominated for Best Original Song for the films Junior and One Fine Day.

Howard, along with Hans Zimmer, won the 2009 Grammy Award for the score for The Dark Knight. He has also received Grammy Award nominations for music from Blood Diamond, Dinosaur, Signs and the song from One Fine Day. He won an Emmy Award for the theme to the Andre Braugher series Gideon's Crossing, and received two additional Emmy nominations for the themes to the Warner Bros. series ER and the Ving Rhames series Men. Howard has also been nominated four times for Golden Globe Awards for his orchestral score for Peter Jackson's blockbuster remake of King Kong; for the songs from Junior and One Fine Day; and for his symphonic score for Defiance.

During Blanchard's term as artistic director, the Frost School's HMI Orchestra was named resident orchestra of the Jazz Roots series produced by Larry Rosen, performed in three PBS television specials, one HBO special, and recorded multiple CD/DVD projects with superstars such as George Benson, Gloria Estefan, Chick Corea, and Bobby McFerrin.

James Newton Howard will continue the Henry Mancini Institute's mission to bring genre blending recording and performance opportunities to over 65 auditioned Mancini Fellows plus interactive experiences to all 700 students enrolled at the Frost School of Music. He will also elevate the Mancini Institute's worldwide reputation through new multimedia and collaborative opportunities.

To read the full release, visit:
http://www.miami.edu/frost/index.php/frost/media/frost_news/film_composer_james_newton_howard_named_new_artistic_director_of_the_henry_mancini_institute/

SOURCE University of Miami