Richard Kaufman has devoted much of his musical life to conducting and supervising music for film and television productions, as well as performing film and classical music in concert halls and on recordings.
Kaufman holds the permanent titles of Pops Conductor Laureate with the Dallas Symphony, and Principal Pops Conductor Laureate with Orange County’s Pacific Symphony. He has appeared as a guest conductor with symphony orchestras throughout both the United States and around the world, including New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the London Symphony, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Kaufman made his Boston Pops conducting debut substituting for John Williams at the Annual Pops Film Night, and then joined Mr. Williams for the annual Tanglewood Film Night and concerts with the Chicago Symphony.
With a lifelong passion for film music, Kaufman often conducts programs featuring live performances of entire scores while the film is shown (his live- to-film repertoire includes over thirty films, including Amadeus, Star Wars, Jaws, Jurassic Park, E.T., The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, and Pirates of the Caribbean).
Kaufman received the 1993 Grammy Award in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance for a recording with the Nuremberg Symphony. His other recordings include the Brandenburg Philharmonic Potsdam, a second recording with the Nuremberg Symphony, two critically acclaimed CDs with the New Zealand Symphony, and a live-in-concert Grammy-nominated recording with the London Symphony Orchestra. His most recent recordings with The Royal Scottish National Orchestra include the Oscar-winning score for The Old Man and the Sea, and a recording of ballet music, special arrangements, and film music, all composed by multi–Academy Award winning composer Dimitri Tiomkin.
As part of the Music Department of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios for 18 years, Kaufman supervised music for all MGM television and animation projects, receiving two Emmy Award nominations.
As a studio violinist in Hollywood, Kaufman performed on numerous film and television scores, including Jaws, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and has recorded with artists including John Denver, Burt Bacharach, The Carpenters, and Ray Charles.
As a unique part of his career in film, Kaufman has coached various actors in musical roles, including Jack Nicholson, Dudley Moore, and Tom Hanks.
Kaufman served as music director/conductor for numerous musicals, touring the U.S., as well as conducting various productions for the Los Angeles and San Francisco Civic Light Operas, and the McCallum Theater in Palm Desert, CA. He was music director/conductor for 50th anniversary celebrations of the Los Angeles Music Center, the Los Angeles Center Theater Group, and for UCLA’s 100th Anniversary.
Kaufman received the “Distinguished Alumni Award” from his alma mater, California State University at Northridge. While a student at CSUN, he composed the University’s alma mater and fight song. He has appeared as a guest speaker and conductor at various universities, and is on the Board of the Film Music Foundation.
Kaufman is proud to be represented by Matthew Oberstein of Opus 3 Artists.
