NOW Art sat down with artist Walter Werzowa for a live conversation about the benefits of sound on Instagram (@nowart_la). As a creative art agency, we love to foster conversations around art, sound, design, and more art initiatives around Los Angeles and beyond.
Below is a transcript of the video:
Carmen Zella (CZ): Hi, Walter.
Walter Werzowa: Hi, Carmen. Good to see you.
CZ: Yeah, good to see you too. So this was originally an Instagram Live, but the technology was not happening, so now we’re doing Zoom. I’m really excited to have this conversation with you because it creates a foundation of where our next project for NXT Art is going—and the realm into which it’s going. I’m really quite thrilled to be able to have this conversation.
Give me your… elevator pitch,or just share with our audience who you are and a little bit about Health Tunes, your organization?
Walter Werzowa: Yeah. I am Walter Werzowa. I moved to Los Angeles post-graduation in the 90s… it was just amazing to be greeted with open arms, building companies and having a family. And when my son got ill—like really ill…we implemented sounds and music, and he recovered extremely fast. In a manner where UCLA asked us, “How did you guys do that?” And suddenly—I’m a composer, I love to write music—I realized that music has so much more to give us than entertainment. It is here to keep us healthy and to heal us. And that was the impetus…to start Health Tunes. And Health Tunes is giving everybody in the world a chance to listen to evidence-based music medicine.
CZ: That’s really powerful. And then, you continued to work with UCLA after that. Is that correct?
Walter Werzowa: Yes, we worked with UCLA and other hospitals, and…Health Tunes grew. It’s like—until, for example, Pharell Williams collaborated now with us…and infused his latest release Piece by Piece with very specific health modalities…to grant less anxiety and stress when you listen to the music. It was a milestone for us to work with an incredible artist like him. And now we’re branching out to all genres as well. It’s beautiful to see that the world is ready for music as a health entity.
CZ: Yeah. And it’s been a known thing among people in the audio world and audiophiles—the effects that sound and frequencies have on the body. But now it’s sort of coming more into the mainstream consciousness. And so it’s really great that artists are adapting—you know, what their music, the effects of their music is having physically on people—actually intentionally into their compositions and their album releases. That’s really powerful stuff. Also I should mention that you’re Austrian, and so people are curious like where that accent comes from.
Walter Werzowa: Yeah. It’s like—I think music is so simple to administer that people…are not really aware of the health quality of it. It’s like we take it for granted. As long as we are singing and using our voice and instruments, we feel there is more to it than the entertainment. And it’s just incredible to see that hospitals are using it. And you can use it at home, you can use it on the go. And Health Tunes is an app—you dial in, and it’s a very simple login process, and you will find an indication. And here we go.
CZ: That’s awesome. You’re an artist as well, —so do you wanna talk a little bit about the work that you’ve done artistically?
Walter Werzowa: Um, yeah. For me, it was always to branch out and break boundaries.
And one of the latest, bigger things was when I got this call: “Hey, Walter, would you like to write music with Beethoven?” At first, I thought it was a prank call… and joked around. And then I realized—um, those were people from Harvard, Rutgers, and Cornell University. They really meant it. And they wanted me to write a symphony with Beethoven. Because he started his 10th symphony—he passed, had only little note sketches. And with the help of AI and myself, we finished the symphony. And it was performed at Elbphilharmonie with a full orchestra. And then at the very end…Pharrell Williams called in and asked basically if I could add Beethoven into his music. So this was another crossover…miracle to me, and it was wonderful to work with them.
CZ: Wow. And Refik Anadol also was involved in that?
Walter Werzowa: Yeah. Refik Anadol is an old friend. We did, um, the Grand Park New Year’s concerts—and when I got contracted to do Mythos Mozart, it’s a specific Mozart experience, I wanted to work with him because he’s so visionary and new and different. And bringing Mozart and his music and my arrangements—and this work together…is stunning. And I would love to invite any of you listeners: come to Vienna and experience it. It is..breathtaking.
CZ: Yeah. Well, you don’t need to twist my arm. That’s something that’s high on my bucket list.
Walter Werzowa: See you next week.
CZ: Yeah. Right! Well, I wanted to also talk a little bit about your involvement with art and technology. You’ve really been… almost like an early adopter of different forms of technology. It’s interesting because you have this association with sound and frequency that is, in some ways, technology-based but in other ways, very primary to our core, you know, as people.So I wanted to ask you a question – how do you balance the world of technology and advancements with how to adapt them in ways that are positive and beneficial? Like how do you create that balance for yourself?
Walter Werzowa: I realized that artists…happen with technology. And the successful artists…you don’t feel the technology is there. It’s like—Beethoven had the metronome. He used a metronome for the tempi—that is technology. A piano is… based on technology. A violin is. And as we go, it gets a little bit more complicated. And now with AI, we have different forms. And even here, Refik Anadol is using AI in a super creative way. And I was invited now to work on…at TED AI Vienna next month, and we’re using technology in a sense to create music directly from our brains. We have EEGs, we have… um, like those contraptions on the head. The information of the EEG goes basically into our DAWs. And we have people on stage creating music. And I’m very curious to see where this is going. It’s definitely a wonderful experiment.
CZ: So we have you as an advisor—on our Board of Advisers—and really deeply involved in our upcoming project, which is going to be a large-scale sound art platform and experience that we’re going to be creating all across LA County. Can you talk a little bit about your involvement and why you’re interested in this particular project?
Walter Werzowa: I followed your successes and your amazing experiences and creations over the last, I think, 10–15 years. And when you called—that you would like me to be involved as an advisor and sound artist—I felt really honored. And it’s, again, a new beautiful assignment to share with Los Angeles. And since I left Los Angeles, I definitely miss it. And I wish that the political situation will change soon—let’s hope for that—so that coming back will be easier.
But creating art, and healing art for the masses, is a dream for me.
And being now able to touch anybody on the street in Los Angeles is almost like a magic wand.
Then seeing how we can affect the health, the heart, the mood, the being, the energy is…something very powerful. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
CZ: We couldn’t be more thrilled to be able to have the support from someone like you—with all of your experience, knowledge, and how you approach work in general. I think it’s gonna be super fascinating. So I wanted to finish off with when you’re thinking about sound and you’re thinking about how it’s affecting the body—what are the top three ways in which you feel like people can reap the benefits from sound? Tips of how people can start receiving sound benefits?
Walter Werzowa: Yeah. We’re all aware, of course, of the emotional value. Music can instantly create emotion and a story behind it. And there are those tests where you only listen to…half a second of a clip of audio, and you recognize the song—and you can see, like, in MRIs and in the physiology—your mood, that you immediately connect with that association, that song, that track, that music. And it’s just very powerful. What helps us tremendously is the research about entrainment. And entrainment is something you might have done in school— you put pendulums on a broomstick, and…they swing very chaotically, and the power of entrainment enables those pendulums to swing…in rhythm…in the matter of, like, 20 seconds or so. So that same thing happens to our body, to our cells, to our brainwaves. I can…give you a 1 Hz brainwave entrainment, and that does something in your brain. It will change your pain perception. It can change your focus…and so they can really precisely…get…a success story in your head—if you allow it.
CZ: Wow, that’s amazing. For anybody that is listening, please go to Walter’s website to learn more, which is HealthTunes.org.
Walter Werzowa: HealthTunes.org. It’s a nonprofit.
CZ: Yeah, and there’s a lot of really incredible information hosted on that website—including different play buttons for different states of being. There’s one for anxiety, there’s one for depression, there’s one for—what was the other one for?
Walter Werzowa: Burnout, grief, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. And if you have sleep challenges, that’s help for you.
CZ: Yeah, it’s a really incredible exploration of the power of sound. If you go to our website, we are going to be launching more information about Attune, which is the project that we’re working with Walter on currently that should be released and performed in 2025—the date is to be announced. So please continue to tune in! And thank you so much, Walter, for your time.
Walter Werzowa: Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to chat.
CZ: All right. Take care.
Walter Werzowa: Bye-bye.