David is an Emmy-winning British composer who has worked on feature films, documentary, animation and drama. He is just as comfortable writing sweeping orchestral scores as he is playing his collection of 80s vintage synths or exploring strange and quirky instruments. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, David is always keen to bring real and organic elements into his scores. 

Recent credits include: The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy (Season 1-3: RTS and HMMA- nominated for Best Documentary Score); World War II: From the Frontlines (Emmy winner for Outstanding Score for a Documentary), Vietnam: The War that Changed America (Emmy-nominated for Best Score); The Afterparty (Season 2, co-composed with Daniel Pemberton); 9/11: One Day in America (Emmy-winning National Geographic series, also Emmy-nominated for Best Score); Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen (nominated for an Ivor Novello for Best TV Score); Our Great National Parks (narrated by Barack Obama; HMMA-nominated for Best Documentary Score); and Emma. (co-composed with Isobel Waller-Bridge; two ASCAP awards and two IFMCA nominations).

Ever since he started composing, David has shown a high degree of musical eclecticism. As a teenager, he wrote a Requiem Mass for choir and orchestra, while at the same time being the guitarist and songwriter in a pop band with a cult local following. While studying music at New College, Oxford University and at the National Film & Television School, David continued playing in bands and experimenting with the latest music technology.

Recent years have seen him scoring many hard-hitting and award-winning documentaries, including several Emmy-winning projects including The Truth vs Alex Jones; Tsunami: Race Against Time and the Escape from Kabul.

On the drama side, he co-scored Sanditon, The Afterparty and Sherlock & Daughter, and has written additional music for many drama series including The White Princess (with John Lunn), The Crown (with Martin Phipps), Victoria (with Ruth Barrett) and Vanity Fair (with Isobel Waller-Bridge). 

David is also well known for scoring some of the most iconic animated shows of the last fifteen years (Charlie & Lola, Mike the Knight, Miffy, The Cat in the Hat and Angry Birds), which amount to over 1,000 episodes. His work on Charlie & Lola earned him an RTS award for Best Original Score (the only time a children’s series has won in the category), his title theme for The Cat in Hat was nominated for an Emmy, and Aliens Love Underpants earned him a BAFTA nomination. 

David’s ear for melody, his skill at musical storytelling and creating a unique musical world for each project, mean that he is always in demand. His London studio, packed full of unusual instruments, has the capacity to record soloists and small ensembles. David is a relative of the four-times Oscar-nominated composer, Friedrich Hollaender, most famous for writing Marlene Dietrich’s song, Falling in Love Again.