Gabriel Yared

Gabriel Yared (Arabic: جبرائيل يارد) (born 7 October 1949) is a Lebanese composer, best known for his work in French and American cinema. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, his work in France included the scores for Betty Blue and Camille Claudel. He later began working on English language films, winning an Oscar for his score for The English Patient and a nomination for The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain. At the age of 7, his father sent Yared to an accordion teacher. Two years later he stopped his accordion lessons and started music theory and piano lessons. His piano teacher thought that he had no future in music. Although he was not a natural pianist, he was interested in reading music. At the age of 14, his piano teacher died, so he was to replace him as the organist of Saint Joseph University. He used the university's library to read all the work of Bach, Schumann, and many others. This extensive reading inspired his first original composition, a piano waltz. Yared gained a... full article at wikipedia