David McHugh

Irish-American composer based in Ireland and London (born May 29, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York). David McHugh was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education at SUNY Fredonia, majoring in piano, and a master’s degree in Composition at CUNY Queens. His career began in New York and lead to Hollywood. He has composed music for film, TV, theater, songs, electronic and concert music. He has composed numerous film scores, including "Mr. North," "Moscow On the Hudson," "Three Fugitives," "Mystic Pizza," "Blood Oath" (also named Prisoners of the Sun), "The Dream Team," and many more. As a songwriter, David earned a Platinum Record from the Pointer Sisters’ cover of his song, Freedom, originally sung by Chaka Khan for the soundtrack of Moscow On the Hudson, which he composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced, as well as writing five songs for the soundtrack. He also earned a Gold Record for Roberta Flack’s cover of his song, Where I’ll Find You. David has designed and taught an MFA Program in Film Composition at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, as well as an MFA Program in Music Composition for the Screen at Columbia College Chicago. He’s continued to compose concert music for commission, including Prelude and Overture to the Third Millennium, Concerto for Flute and Orchestra premiered by the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra, various chamber works, musicals, and hundreds of songs. In addition to composing, he writes plays and poetry, and holds patents on his inventions. He is currently settled in Ireland with his wife, Pi-Hsuan Huang, a video game composer from Taiwan.