Biography
David Mansfield is an American musician and composer. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was raised in New Jersey and trained as a violinist; his father was a violinist with the New York Philharmonic. He began his career as a session musician and band member, playing with artists including Bob Dylan, before moving into film scoring.
Mansfield composed the score for Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate (1980), in which he also appeared on screen playing the fiddle on roller skates. He collaborated further with Cimino on Year of the Dragon (1985), The Sicilian (1987) and Desperate Hours (1990). Other notable scores include The Ballad of Little Jo (1993), The Apostle (1997), Songcatcher (2000), Transamerica (2005) and Broken Trail (2006, with Van Dyke Parks). He has been married to director Maggie Greenwald since 1994.
