Vangelis

Popular contemporary composer Vangelis is known for his innovative electronic music. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of four and gave his first public performance of his own compositions a mere two years later. After a stint with the progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child in the '60s, Vangelis began his solo career. He has been composing movie soundtracks since the mid-'70s, and first won acclaim and recognition for his Oscar-winning score of Chariots of Fire (1981). Some of his other noted works include the soundtracks for Blade Runner (1982) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

~Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide