A self-taught musician, Gabriel Yared has been providing stirring and lush scores for features since the 1970s, earning accolades and critical praise. Born in Lebanon in 1949, he dropped out of school in 1971 and briefly moved to Brazil where he worked with pop singers Elis Regina and Ivan Lins. He settled in France in 1972 and audited courses taught by Henri Dutilleux at L'Ecole Normale du Musique. The following year, he began his career in earnest as composer and/or orchestrator for popular singers like Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Becaud, Johnny Halliday and Mireille Mathieu, while simultaneously composing ballet scores, advertising jingles and radio and TV themes.
Yared entered films in 1974 with the score for "Miss O'Gynie et les hommes fleurs" but he really first earned attention with the music for Jean-Luc Godard's "Sauve Qui Peut la Vie/Every Man for Himself" (1980). Since then, he has created rich musical tapestries for over 40 motion pictures ranging from Jean-Jacques Beineix's "Betty Blue" (1985) to Robert Altman's "Theo and Vincent" (1990). He has scored several films for Jean-Pierre Mocky and won attention for his strong work on Bruno Nuytten's "Camille Claudel" (1988). In 1996, Yared won a Golden Globe Award and earned an Oscar for his elegant score to Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient", a wide-ranging work that included variations on Bach, Hungarian folk melodies and influences of Northern African themes.
Education
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Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris, France, 1972
Milestones
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1971 Dropped out of school and moved to Brazil
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1972 Moved to Paris
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1973 Began musical career as composer and/or orchestrator for popular singers like Charles Aznavour, Johny Holliday and Mireille Mathieu
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1974 Wrote first film score "Miss O'Gynie et les hommes fluers"
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1980 Wrote score for Jean-Luc Godard's Sauve Qui Peut la Vie/Every Man for Himself"
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1983 First screen collaboration with Jean-Jacques Beineix, "The Moon in the Gutter"
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1983 Made film acting debut in "Sarah"; also scored
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1985 Earned praise and a Cesar nomination for his score for Beineix's "Betty Blue"
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1987 Initial feature collaboration with Robert Altman, "Beyond Therapy"
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1987 Scored first films for Jean-Pierre Mocky, "Agent Trouble" and "Les Saisons du plaisir"; earned a Cesar nomination for the former
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1988 Won third Cesar nomination for the music for "Camille Claudel"
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1990 Reteamed with Altman on "Vincent and Theo"
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1996 Earned Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for the score for Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient"
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1999 Reteamed with Minghella to provide the eclectic score for "The Talented Mr. Ripley"; also composed the theme song "Lullaby for Cain"; garnered a Best Original Score Academy Award nomination
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2003 Composed the music for "Cold Mountain"; Received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score; received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score
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Composed ballet scores, advertising jingles and radio and TV themes