Austin Wintory

"Gaming’s Eclectic Outspoken Maestro" ~Game Informer Magazine

Austin  Wintory has built his career on curiosity and experimentation. He began  his obsession with composing back when he was ten years old, when he  discovered Jerry Goldsmith’s scores to PATTON and A PATCH OF BLUE.

After  a busy high school career composing for the student orchestras, Austin  went on to study at NYU and USC with composers Morten Lauridsen, Charles  Fussell, and Erica Muhl. Never satisfied with working in a single  medium, Austin has worked in the concert world, film music, video games,  and  others.

In March 2012, the PlayStation3 game Journey was  released, after three years of work. The game instantly became Sony’s  fastest-selling PlayStation title, and the soundtrack album debuted on the Billboard charts higher than any original score in gaming history. In December 2012, more history was made when it was announced that Journey had become the first-ever Grammy-nominated® videogame score.

The  score subsequently won an Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences  D.I.C.E. award, two British Academy Awards, a Spike TV VGA, and IGN’s  “Overall Music of the Year,” five G.A.N.G. Awards and host of others.  The score features the Macedonia Radio Symphonic Orchestra and a lineup  of top soloists (Audio excerpts available here). Orchestral excerpts, and the stand alone mini-concerto “Woven Variations” have been consistently scheduled for concert performances all over the world since its release.

Beginning humbly as a Kickstarter campaign, Austin’s next major game effort was Stoic Studio’s The Banner Saga,  a unique and mature turn-based strategy / RPG hybrid with a dazzling  art direction. The score featured the Dallas Wind Symphony, America’s  premiere wind ensemble, and an all-star trio of YouTube musicians: Malukah, Peter Hollens and Taylor Davis.  The game and soundtrack were released in early 2014 to critical and  commercial success; the score earned Austin over a dozen awards and  nominations, including his 4th and 5th British Academy Award  nominations, and won the first-ever peer-voted ASCAP Composer’s Choice  Award for “Best Video Game Score of the Year.” He is currently working  with Stoic on The Banner Saga 2, which was announced live, on-stage at The Game Awards in December 2014 to an audience of nearly 2 million  people.

Most recently (released August 2016), Austin scored the debut title for Giant Squid Studios, ABZÛ. The score was an ambitious blend of orchestra, choir and large harp ensemble recorded in both the US and the UK.  The game and score were both immensely well-received, earning a number  of publications’ “Best Of” lists for top soundtrack of the year, in  addition to Austin’s second D.I.C.E. Award nomination, a Hollywood Music in Media nomination, and others.

In 2015, Austin wrote and produced the score for Ubisoft’s latest blockbuster: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. The music is at its heart a chamber score deeply rooted in 19th century traditions, featuring virtuoso musicians Sandy Cameron and Tina Guo,  and an all-star ensemble recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios  in London. The score earned Austin his 6th British Academy Award  nomination, and second ASCAP Composer’s Choice Award win, and has been  lauded as among the top game scores for 2015 by major industry  organizations like GameTrailers, IGN, Movie Music UK, the International  Film Music Critics Association and the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

Austin has also scored nearly 50 feature films, and his first major film score, for the Sundance Film Festival-winning film Captain Abu Raed, was shortlisted for the 2009 Academy Awards for Best Original Score by the LA Times. His next major film, Grace,  was also a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. Austin’s score (which  featured a wild array of custom-recorded sounds such as babies crying  and horse flies, in addition to a large ensemble of clarinets at  London’s famed Abbey Road Studios), was also highly lauded, earning a  notorious Fangoria Chainsaw Award nomination and being cited by “Visions  in Sound” (a popular film scoring radio program) as among the Top 10  Scores for 2010. His most recent films are writer/director Adam Alleca’s  Standoff, starring Thomas Jane and Laurence Fishburne, and Amin  Matalqa’s The Rendezvous, starring Stana Katic.

Outside  of games, Austin also maintains a busy concert composing schedule, with  regular appearances throughout the world. Most recently he premiered  the commissioned work “This Gaming Life” with the Melbourne Symphony  Orchestra, a theatrical work created in collaboration with the legendary  comedians called “Tripod.” Announced in 2016 was also the unveiling of  his partnership with the Chicago-based chamber group Fifth House Ensemble,  with whom he will tour in a production of “Journey LIVE,” a recreation  of the hit PlayStation title, performed interactively live. His chamber  music show “Mythos,” combining his own music with other contemporary  works, is also touring throughout 2015 and beyond following a successful  world premiere in Manhattan at New York Comic Con in 2014. Forthcoming  he will also have premieres with the West Michigan Symphony, Colorado  Symphony and others.

Passionate  about education, Austin is a regular public speaker at schools and  events around the world, in addition to pre-concert talks and workshops.  He also serves on the Board of Directors for the non-profit Education Through Music – Los Angeles.

PRO affiliation: ASCAP

Education Through Music – Los Angeles: Homepage