David Nichtern (born 19 February 1948) is an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and television composer,

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

artist and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

teacher of the Shambala tradition of

Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa ( Wylie: ''Chos rgyam Drung pa''; March 5, 1939 – April 4, 1987) was a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, the 11th of the Trungpa tülkus, a tertön, s ...

Biography

Born and raised in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, Nichtern is the son of Sol Nichtern, a prominent New York psychiatrist and writer, and Broadway

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Claire Nichtern, the first female

Tony award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

winner. Having begun practicing music at age eight, he began his career as a professional musician during his college years at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. He served as director of sales for the New England Digital Corporation in the 1980s. He is the founder of music-marketing company Nudgie Music LLC, and its divisions Dharma Moon and 5 Points Records. He wrote the song " Midnight at the Oasis." He has his own world/fusion band, Drala and has also released a solo record entitled ''From Here To Nichternity'', which features five cuts that were originally cues on '' One Life to Live'', in addition to an instrumental duet of "Midnight at the Oasis" featuring

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of ...

. David Nichtern is also a member of

The Beyman Bros The Beyman Bros are Christopher Guest, David Nichtern and C.J. Vanston. Their music is an instrumental mix of Americana, bluegrass and jazz elements. A full-length release, ''Memories of Summer as a Child'', was released on January 20, 2009 on ...

, an instrumental trio featuring Nichtern,

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood for having writte ...

and

C.J. Vanston Cj (Jeffrey) Vanston is an American film composer, record producer, songwriter, and keyboardist, based in Hollywood, California. He was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Bonnie L. Smith and Paul L. Vanston. Film credits * 1996 ''Waiting for Gu ...

. Beginning in 1970, Nichtern became a student of the Shambhala Buddhist tradition of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in maj ...

, and was taught by the founder, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Nichtern has since become a senior teacher. Nichtern has been the Director of Expansion for

Shambhala Training Shambhala Training is a secular approach to meditation developed by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa and his students. It is based on what Trungpa calls Shambhala Vision, which sees enlightened society as not purely mythical, but as real ...

, and co-director of the Karme Choling Meditation Center in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

. Nichtern's son,

Ethan Nichtern Ethan Nichtern is an American author and Buddhist teacher. His book ''The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path'' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux - North Point, 2015), which was selected as one of Best Books of 2015 by ''Library ...

, is a Buddhist teacher and author.

5 Points Records

5 Points Records is a privately held label based in New York City founded by David Nichtern. Its sister companies include the world-lifestyle label Dharma Moon, the custom label 5 Points V.I.P. and the music publishing company Nudgie Tunes. The label's first release, the first installment of the Rare Elements series, brought together an eclectic mix of talent that involved original works by acclaimed musician Ustad Sultan Khan being remixed by a variety of modern artists, including

Thievery Corporation Thievery Corporation is an American electronic music duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Their musical style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip hop and Brazilian music, including bo ...

, Joe Claussell, Nickodemus And Osiris and others. Their next release - ''Still Life'' by Kodomo - is a collection of minimal electro tracks representing a set of photos Kodomo took while traveling in Italy, Japan the US, China, etc. The album was released on October 7, 2008. Other upcoming releases include the 2nd installment of their Rare Elements series featuring remixes of Omar Faruk Tekbilek by

Amon Tobin Amon Adonai Santos de Araújo Tobin (born February 7, 1972), known as Amon Tobin (), is a Brazilian electronic musician, composer and producer. He is noted for his unusual methodology in sound design and music production. He has released eight ...

, Junior Sanchez, Tommie Sunshine,

Flosstradamus Flosstradamus is the stage name of American DJ and musician Curt Cameruci. From 2007 until 2016, Flosstradamus consisted of Cameruci and Josh Young from Chicago. The duo announced they would both be pursuing solo careers, with Cameruci to continu ...

, and more.MySpace.com – 5 Points Records – NEW YORK, New York – Indie / Pop / Electro – www.myspace.com/5pointsrecords
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Awards and nominations

Nichtern has been nominated for ten

Daytime Emmy The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

awards from 2000 to 2006, in the category "Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series", for his work on '' One Life to Live'' and ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

''. He won the award in 2000, for ''One Life to Live'', 2001 for ''As the World Turns'', and 2005 for ''One Life to Live''. He has also been nominated for a

Grammy award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for

Song of the Year Song of the Year may refer to: * Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year * Dove Award for Song of the Year * Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year * Grammis Song of the Year * Grammy Award for Song of the Year * Latin Grammy Awa ...

for " Midnight at the Oasis." His first DE nomination was shared with Sybil Costello, Pamela Magee, James Kowal,

Gary Deinstadt Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

, Robert Bard, Billy Barber, Earl Rose,

Rick Rhodes Rick Rhodes (July 28, 1951 – November 2, 2005) was an American musician and television composer. His music for TV shows including ''Santa Barbara'', ''Another World'' and ''Guiding Light'' won a total of five Emmy Award. In 2005, he died of b ...

, Robert Sands, Ed Dzubak,

Kevin Bents Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

Jamie Lawrence James Hubert Lawrence (born 8 March 1970) is a football coach and former professional player who played as a right winger. He notably had spells in the Premier League with Leicester City and Bradford City, as well as playing in the Football Lea ...

, and Bette Sussman. His first win was shared with Paul Glass, Jamie Howarth, Dominic Messinger,

Lee Holdridge Lee Elwood Holdridge (born March 3, 1944) is a Haitian-born American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. A 18-time Emmy Award nominee, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and one ...

, Bette Sussman, and

Rob Mounsey Rob Mounsey (born December 2, 1952) is an American musician, composer, and arranger. Music career Mounsey was born in Berea, Ohio, and grew up in Seattle, Washington, spending a few years each in Findlay and Granville, Ohio. At the age of 17, ...

Composing credits

* '' The Student Teachers'' (1973) * '' White Line Fever'' (1975) * '' Sapphire Man'' (1988) * ''

The Big Picture The Big Picture may refer to: Music * ''The Big Picture'' (Michael W. Smith album), a 1986 album * ''The Big Picture'' (Michael Shrieve album), a 1988 collaborative album by Michael Shrieve and David Beal * ''The Big Picture'' (Elton John album ...

'' (1989) * '' One Life to Live'' (1995–2007) * ''

Soundtrack credits

* ''The Big Picture'' (1989) * '' Perfect Witness'' (1989)

References

External links

DavidNichtern.com
*

at Emusic.com
''Tampa Tribune'' article on OM yoga CD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichtern, David 1948 births Living people People from Manhattan American male composers 21st-century American composers American male songwriters Emmy Award winners 21st-century American male musicians The Beyman Bros members Buddhist artists Columbia University alumni