David Firman is a British orchestral conductor, musical director, composer and arranger.

Early life and education

Firman was born in London and educated at

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, where he was Organ Scholar. He graduated in English and Music. Whilst at Cambridge he was Musical Director of Footlights Dramatic Club.

Work

Firman conducted the original West End productions of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'', ''

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

'', ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

'', ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

'', ''

Singing in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charisse ...

'', '' Dancin''', '' The Pirates of Penzance'', '' Children of Eden'', '' Phantom of the Opera'', ''

Enter the Guardsman ''Enter the Guardsman ''is a musical based on Ferenc Molnár's play ''The Guardsman'', with music by Craig Bohmler, lyrics by Marion Adler and a book by Scott Wentworth. The story concerns an actor who tests his actress wife's love by sending her ...

'', ''Metropolis''. The reviewer for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' called Firman's orchestrations for ''

'', "superb", noting that they "add(ed) colour to an elegant score in Jeremy Sams's neat production." As a keyboardist he played on the recording sessions for ''Return of the Jedi'', ''Superman'', ''Supergirl'', ''Medicine Man'', ''First Blood'', ''Rambo ll'', ''Basic Instinct'', ''Tombstone'', ''DARRYL'', and ''Total Recall''. He conducted the soundtracks of ''Savage Islands'', ''The Tall Guy'', ''Rambo 3'' (final reel), ''A Long Day Closes'', and ''The Tie That Binds''. For television he acted as musical director and arranger for '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'', ''

Dinnerladies Lunch lady, in Canada and the US, is a term for a woman who cooks and serves food in a school cafeteria. The equivalent term in the United Kingdom is dinner lady. The role is also sometimes known as cafeteria lady. Sometimes, a lunch lady also ...

'', ''

Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings ''Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings'' is a one-off Christmas comedy sketch-show special, written by and starring comedian Victoria Wood. It was first broadcast on BBC One on Christmas Day 2000. The cast included Wood's frequent co-stars Celia ...

'', '' Bryn Terfel at Christmas'', '' The Mike Doyle Show'' (3 series), Parkinson with Victoria Wood, and Victoria Wood BAFTA tribute. Firman was Principal Guest Conductor for the Danish Sinfonietta from 1990 until their dissolution in December 2014. He arranged and conducted many of their concerts and broadcasts, including performances with Tommy Körberg,

Simply Red Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. Since the ...

, Ray Davies,

Katie Melua Ketevan Katie Melua (; ka, ქეთევან "ქეთი" მელუა, ; born 16 September 1984) is a Georgian and British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of comp ...

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

Shu-bi-dua Shu•bi•dua or Shu-bi-dua is a Danish pop group that was formed in 1973 in Copenhagen, as an expansion of the group ''Passport''. Throughout their 40-year history, Shu-bi-dua changed their lineup many times, however their lead singer was with ...

Stig Rossen Stig Rossen (born 14 June 1962) is a Danish singer and actor. He is known for his roles in musicals, especially playing Valjean in ''Les Misérables''. He has also participated in Melodi Grand Prix, the Danish prelude to the Eurovision Song Contes ...

, Inger dam Jensen,

Jerry Hadley Jerry Hadley (June 16, 1952 – July 18, 2007) was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of ''Jenůfa'' (2004 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording), ''Susannah'' (1995 Grammy Awar ...

Harolyn Blackwell Harolyn Blackwell (born November 23, 1955) is an American lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in many of the world's finest opera houses, concert halls, and theaters in operas, oratorios, recitals, and Broadway musicals. Initially known ...

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

Paddy Moloney Paddy Moloney ( ga, Pádraig Ó Maoldomhnaigh; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was parti ...

, Sissel Kyrkjebo, Sir Christopher Lee,

The Bootleg Beatles The Bootleg Beatles are a Beatles tribute band. They have performed over 4,000 times since their establishment in March 1980. History The Bootleg Beatles were formed by Andre Barreau, Neil Harrison and David Catlin-Birch, fellow London cast m ...

, Lars Lillholt, Jean-Michel Jarre and Elaine Paige. In London Firman conducted the annual concert series ''Night of a 1000 Voices'' at the Royal Albert Hall (director

Hugh Wooldridge Hugh Wooldridge is an English theatre director, theatre and television producer and writer, and stage lighting designer. Wooldridge was born in Amersham, Bucks, the son of British composer John Wooldridge and actress Margaretta Scott. He is the ...

), and ''Chess in Concert'' with Idina Menzel, Josh Groban,

Marti Pellow Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan; 23 March 1965) is a Scottish singer. He was the lead singer of the Scottish pop group Wet Wet Wet for 28 years: from their formation in 1982 until their split in 1997, and again from their reformation in 2004 ...

, Kerry Ellis, and Clarke Peters. Firman also conducts the Best of Broadway series at the Royal Albert Hall with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

, and conducts the orchestra frequently in other venues. He conducted the world premiere performances of ''Frozen - Live in Concert'', and the British premiere of ''Pirates of the Caribbean - Live in Concert'', both at the Albert Hall with the

, and has also conducted Disney’s Fantasia with the same orchestra, along with the European premiere of Beauty and the Beast - Live in Concert. He has conducted orchestras in Hanover, Singapore, Bangkok, Beijing, Ottawa, Sydney, Tokyo, Odense, Aalborg, Antwerp, Aarhus, Stockholm, Rome, Barcelona, and Copenhagen. Firman composed the orchestral score for the ballet Kom Bamse, nu balletter vi! which is part of the repertoire for the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen.

References

External links

David Firman

IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firman, David British male conductors (music) British composers Living people 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)