Florian Walch

Florian Walch is a music theorist who explores tensions between genre, theory, and technology in popular and classical music. He is particularly interested in how musical aesthetics and theories change in response to technological disruptions. His book project, Extreme Metal Across the Digital Divide, examines how an underground genre of music tried to reconcile the pursuit of escalation with inherited traditions.

Before joining WVU, Florian was a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago, where he earned his Ph.D. in Music History and Theory in 2023. Originally from Austria, he holds an M.A. and B.A. in Musicology from the University of Vienna. At UChicago, he taught theory courses for majors and non-majors and electives in popular music, 19th-century and 20th-century music, and post-tonal analysis.

Florian’s research on popular music has appeared (or is forthcoming) in Music Theory Spectrum, The Routledge Handbook to Metal Music Composition, and Analyzing Black Metal. His work on classical music includes an article on chromatic harmony in Mozart in the Indiana Theory Review and ten dictionary articles on orchestras, instruments, and conductors. He regularly presents at national and international conferences.

As a teacher and mentor, Florian approaches music theory as a practice of translating between sound, interfaces, and cultures. He is committed to preparing his students for a changing future and believes that musical and technological literacy matter more than ever in the age of machine learning. His teaching philosophy designs structures for shame-free practice and encourages students to be curious about their unique learning style. 

Beyond academia, Florian enjoys resistance training, Chinese food, writing fugues, and spending time with his wife and their two cats Poppy and Skeeter.