Vangelis

The Greek composer Vangelis was born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou on March 29, 1943 in Volos, Greece. Primarily composing works electronic, progressive, ambient and orchestral music, he is best known for his Academy Award winning score for the film Chariots of Fire. Other notable works include the film scores for Blade Runner and 1492: Conquest of Paradise. In a career that has produced over forty albums spanning 47 plus years, he is generally regarded as one of the greatest electronic music composers in modern history.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3634447/My-Greek-odyssey-with-Alexander.html

Vangelis began work with several popular bands of the 1960s, including work on the 666 album by Aphrodite's Child that came to be recognized as a psychedelic rock classic.http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/display.php?rev=ac-666 He went on to form a partnership with Jon Anderson of the progressive rock band Yes in the 1970s. The two released several albums together as Jon & Vangelis.

In the latter 1970s, Vangelis composed musical scores for several documentaries. These attracted the attention of several well known filmmakers. He composed the score for the Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire, which went on to win an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score, as well as reaching the top of the American Billboard charts.