Biography

The Early Years
Austin Wintory began studying piano in Denver , CO at age 10 and almost immediately began composing. By the time he graduated from high school, Austin had conducted his own works in nearly a dozen different orchestra concerts, written music for a start-up computer game, performed a commissioned piece for a “Youth Summit” convention's opening ceremony, and composed and conducted an hour-long orchestral score for a former teacher’s wedding ceremony and reception. He was also a commissioned composer for a Colorado Symphony chamber ensemble “Up Close and Musical.”

Austin's first film score, composed for the silent short Nuts&Bolts directed by Newell Todd, won the Golden Silent Series score competition and received a double performance live at NYC's Lincoln Center, synched to the film. Shortly thereafter Austin received separate awards for two brass quintet works, a woodwind quintet and string quartet, as well as an orchestral work. He later recieved the Alan Menken Award, a distinction given annually by the legendary Disney composer.


Concert Music
Austin's career as a concert composer began to take off following his successes in high school. By the time he had left New York, Austin's concert works had been performed through various Manhattan venues, and across the pond in Europe. His commissions included works for the Black Sea Philharmonic in Constanta, Romania, two orchestral works for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in Port Charlotte, Florida, a chamber work for the Colorado Music Teacher's Association and an orchestra piece for the Colorado Youth Symphony. Currently Austin is preparing for a world premiere by the Thorton Symphony Orchestra at the University of Southern California, for whom he wrote "Space, Time and Plexiglass" in honor of the works of filmmaker Joss Whedon.


Film Music
Throughout this time Austin has remained busy composing a slew of scores for nearly ninety productions, ranging from short and feature films, to computer games, TV shows and commercials, corporate videos, podcasts, video art installations and even books on tape. Austin has also achieved successes as an orchestrator, having recently collaborated with composer Nathan Lanier on the short film Lucifer, which was recorded in December '06 with an 82-piece orchestra and 24-voice choir at 20th Century Fox. Other clients include HBO, NASA's Spitzer Satellite Program and Jet Propulsion Labratory, Coca-Cola, MTV, 3b Studios, USC Interactive Media and Guest House Films, among others.


These days ...
As of the dawn of 2007, Austin is currently completing work on the forthcoming PlayStation3 title "FlOw," based on the online flash title he'd scored earlier in 2006. To date the game has been distributed to millions of gamers all of the world, and garnered accolades from many of the industry's leading publications. He is also currently working on the indie feature Back Soon for director Rob Williams, and several new short films. On top of his musical duties, Austin is a member of the Board of Directors for Education Through Music Los Angeles, a national organization dedicated to bringing music programs to under-served communities. Fellow board members include composers Michael Giacchino and James Dooley. Austin is also a partner for Cultural Resources Inc, an educational software company based out of New Jersey which specializes in creating Western culture-oriented historical pedagogy.

PRO affiliation: ASCAP