Walter Mair
by Joanna Orland
The “conflicted” Walter Mair originally wanted to become a doctor and studied Latin in secondary school in order to pursue a career in medicine. Moving into psychology, he almost received his degree in the subject matter, but eventually realized that psychology wasn’t for him. When still a psychology major at university, Walter was composing for advertising as a side project. He later decided to go into something more meaningful which has led to his work in longform.
This career shift from medicine to music required further study and Walter moved on to Vienna University to focus on music composition. Brought up on classical music, Walter eventually discovered electronic music which inspires him to apply more modern techniques to orchestral scores by recording live instruments and later manipulating them electronically. Combining his unique take on the electronic and orchestral, Walter also utilizes his expertise in psychological profiling by applying it to analyzing a creative brief. His writing style and psychological approach to scoring alongside his raw talent is what makes Walter one-to-watch in the field of film composition.
Listen to our interview with the Ivor Novello nominated composer Walter Mair as he discusses his career from picking up his first instrument to scoring his latest film.
