Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie (born September 17, 1969,

New York City, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) is a composer and sound engineer based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Early life

Wiltzie was born in

. Originally a champion youth tennis player, a knee injury sustained when he was 16 ended his career. Wiltzie then moved to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, where he lived for 10 years, before moving to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Career

Wiltzie is best known for his work as a founder of seminal ambient classical projects

Stars of the Lid Stars of the Lid is an American ambient music duo consisting of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. The duo formed in Austin, Texas in 1993. They have been acclaimed for their music incorporating droning, effects-treated guitars along with piano, st ...

, The Dead Texan, Aix Em Klemm and

A Winged Victory for the Sullen A Winged Victory for the Sullen is an American ambient music duo composed of Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltzie. They have released four studio albums, an EP, and one soundtrack album. In 2015, they performed at the Royal Albert Hall as part ...

. He scored A Winged Victory for the Sullen's 2021 album "

Invisible Cities ''Invisible Cities'' ( it, Le città invisibili) is a novel by Italian writer Italo Calvino. It was published in Italy in 1972 by Giulio Einaudi Editore. Description The book explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of ...

", the score to the critically acclaimed theater production directed by Leo Warner. He has also recorded, played with, and worked as a live sound engineer for artists such as

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

Mercury Rev Mercury Rev is an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York.
Original personnel were Labradford Labradford is a U.S. post-rock musical group from Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1992.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Labradford" in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 827 They have released six full albums from 1993 to 2001. Though not ...

Bedhead BedHead is a comedy web series created by Jon Dalgaard, Claire Phillips, Tom Keele, Reece A. Jones & Benjamin Mathews. Filmed in Sydney, Australia, the series allows the audience to hear the thoughts of two old friends, Paul and Sarah, who end up ...

, The Bad Livers,

Windsor for the Derby Windsor for the Derby are an American post-rock band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1995 and currently based in Austin, Texas. Since their formation, the group has released many albums through labels such as Trance Syndicate, Young God Records, an ...

Iron & Wine Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a ...

Jóhann Jóhannsson Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson (; 19 September 1969 – 9 February 2018) was an Icelandic composer who wrote music for a wide array of media including theatre, dance, television, and film. His work is stylised by its blending of traditional orchest ...

Hauschka Volker Bertelmann (born 1966) is a German pianist and composer who mainly performs and records under the name Hauschka. He is best known for his compositions for prepared piano. Early life Volker Bertelmann was born in Kreuztal, Germany. He ...

and

Sparklehorse Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band from Richmond, Virginia, led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous. Sparklehorse was active from 1995 until Linkous' 2010 death. Prior to forming Sparklehorse, Linkous fronted local bands ...

. He has written the original scores for several film and television productions including Salero,

The Yellow Birds ''The Yellow Birds'' is the debut novel from American writer, poet, and Iraq War veteran Kevin Powers. It was one of ''The New York Timess 100 Most Notable Books of 2012 and a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award. It was awarded the 2012 The ...

and

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

. He also collaborated with

on his scores for '' The Theory of Everything'' and ''

Arrival Arrival(s) or The Arrival(s) may refer to: Film * ''The Arrival'' (1991 film), an American science fiction horror film * ''The Arrival'' (1996 film), an American-Mexican science fiction horror film * ''Arrival'' (film), a 2016 American science ...

'', and wrote two of the main themes with

Dustin O'Halloran Dustin O'Halloran (born September 8, 1971) is an American composer and pianist. Aside from releasing music as a recording artist, O'Halloran is a film and TV composer, as well as one half of ambient act A Winged Victory for the Sullen. Early ...

in the 2016 Oscar-nominated film ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

''.

Discography

Solo * ''Travels in Constants Vol. 24'' (

Temporary Residence Limited Temporary Residence Limited (shortened TRL) is a Brooklyn, New York-based record label. TRL was started in Louisville, Kentucky in 1996 by Jeremy DeVine, and initially concentrated on releasing music by Louisville-based bands.

, 2015) Stars of the Lid (with

Brian McBride Brian Robert McBride (born June 19, 1972) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward for Columbus Crew, Fulham and Chicago Fire. He is the fifth-highest all-time leading goalscorer for the United States national team. For m ...

) Sleepingdog (with Chantal Acda) * ''Naked in a Clean Bed'' (Muze, 2006) * ''Polar Life'' (Gizeh, 2008) * ''With Our Heads in the Clouds and Our Hearts in the Fields'' (Gizeh, 2011) Aix Em Klemm (with

Robert Donne Robert Donne (born 1967) is a musician and film composer from Richmond, Virginia. He has recorded works with a variety of groups and individuals including Labradford (Kranky), Aix Em Klemm (Kranky), Spokane (Jagjaguwar), Gregor Samsa, Cristal (F ...

) * '' Aix Em Klemm'' ( Kranky, 2000) The Dead Texan (with

Christina Vantzou Christina Vantzou is a Kansas City, Missouri-born composer and filmmaker of Greek descent based in Brussels, Belgium Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic s ...

) * '' The Dead Texan'' (Kranky, 2004)

(with

) * ''

'' (Erased Tapes, 2011) * ''Atomos VII'' P(Kranky, 2014) * '' Atomos'' (Erased Tapes, 2014) * ''Iris'' (

Erased Tapes Erased Tapes Records is a London-based independent record label focusing on releasing avant-garde and experimental electronic music. History The record company was established by Robert Raths in early 2007 in London, with the release of Ryan ...

, 2016) * ''

God's Own Country "God's Own Country" is a phrase meaning an area, region or place supposedly favoured by God. Examples Australia In Australia, the phrase "God's own country" was often used to describe the country in the early 1900s, but it appears to have gr ...

'' (2017) * ''

The Undivided Five ''The Undivided Five'' is the third studio album by the ambient music duo A Winged Victory for the Sullen. It was released on 1 November 2019 on Ninja Tune. Recording ''The Undivided Five'' was produced in eight different recordin ...

'' (

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

, 2019) *

( Artificial Pinearch Manufacturing, 2021) Film Score Albums * ''Salero'' (

, 2016) *American Woman (Artificial Pinearch Manufacturing, 2019)

Filmography

Films Documentaries Short Films Television

References

External links

* 1969 births Living people American audio engineers American male composers 21st-century American composers Musicians from New York City Ambient music groups Minimalist composers Engineers from New York City 21st-century American male musicians People from McAllen, Texas Erased Tapes Records artists American expatriates in Belgium {{US-composer-20thC-stub