Newman composes music rich with rhythmic drive and intricate sophistication, often incorporating styles of pop, blues, jazz, folk, and funk into otherwise classical models. Recent commissions include BLOW IT UP, START AGAIN, commissioned by Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, THESE INFLECTED TENTACLES for chamber quartet, VIVID GEOGRAPHY for women's chorus and chamber orchestra on a text by poet Marcella Durand, and STEREO ACTION, written for a consortium of percussion ensembles. Other recent works include SYMPHONY NO. 1, MY HANDS ARE A CITY, DE PROFUNDIS for massed winds, and arrangements of electronica for ACOUSTICA: ALARM WILL SOUND PERFORMS APHEX TWIN. As a MacDowell Colony Fellow, he began work on an opera based on the 1962 cult horror film CARNIVAL OF SOULS, in collaboration with playwright Gary Winter. Newman holds degrees from Boston University's School for the Arts and The Juilliard School, where he studied with composers John Corigliano and David Del Tredici.
