Relationships key to music, says Petra Salsjo

Australian pianist and vocalist Petra Salsjo shared her life journey with Wintec students at the 20^th annual Spark festival.

Petra, who has won awards for her soundtracks, said she is currently working on a two-minute animation movie.

She also talked about her brush several years ago with breast cancer, including her concerns at the time for her son.

She said she always knew she would become a musician or actor. “First I learned to play the piano, and I also played it in bars and hotels. I never ever dreamed about winning an award or this kind of recognition.”

For the award-winning 2017 movie Miro she composed, orchestrated, recorded and mixed the score, and won best original soundtrack from the International Veterans Films Festival in Canberra.  Her first feature was nominated for best original soundtrack at the 2016 Sydney Indie Film Festival.

Petra also composed, recorded and mixed original music for the short film The Telegram Man and won best original score at the St Kilda Film Festival 2011, with the movie going on to win a Bafta.

During her Spark workshop, Petra discussed the relationship between visuals and the score, as well the relationships between the composer and producers, directors, actors and writers, which she said werre important when creating a film score.

As for the future, apart from the music, her son wants to visit the Taj Mahal in India, and they are planning the trip for next year.