Austin Wintory

American composer known for Journey and Flow.

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Austin Wintory (born September 9, 1984) is an American composer for film and video games. He is known for scoring the video games Flow and Journey, the latter of which made history as the only video game soundtrack to date to be nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.

Quick Facts

Born: 9 September 1984
Birthplace: Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Genre: classical rock, electronic rock
Occupation: Composer, conductor
Years active: 2002–present
Spouse: Angela Bermúdez (2024)

Lore & Background

Austin Wintory was born in Denver, Colorado in 1984 and started learning piano when he was ten years old, after his teacher introduced him to composer Jerry Goldsmith. Before the age of ten, Wintory did not play any instruments and barely listened to music. By the age of sixteen, Wintory started writing for and conducting the Cherry Creek High School Orchestra during their performances of the 'Spirit of the Cosmos' pieces. Two years later, at the age of eighteen, Wintory conducted the Utah Symphony during its recording of 'Cosmos', which became one of his most popular projects, although he refers to it as 'atrocious garbage'. Since 2003, Wintory has composed over three hundred musical scores.

Reader's Guide

Wintory met Jenova Chen while both attended the University of Southern California (USC). After networking with an interactive media student at USC and scoring a small game project, his name was passed along to Chen, who asked Wintory to score his thesis project, Flow, later re-released on PlayStation Network. Wintory, Chen and Nick Clarke developed the first version of Flow as a three-man team. Wintory regards the pink area of the game, where the player controls a jellyfish-like creature, as the humorous area of the game, describing his music for it as almost 'circus-like' compared to the overall soundtrack. Originally, Monaco developer Andy Schatz sought out licensed music as a backdrop to the game's setting, feeling that the style of music needed was too esoteric to hire a composer. Wintory, however, was able to convince Schatz that he could create an original score that fit the project's vision. Wintory will compose the music and conduct a live orchestra for a touring BAFTA Games in Concert, to start in 2026 and featuring music from winners of the British Academy Games Awards.

What players say: Player verdict on Journey — Rotten Tweets