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Michael Montes began teaching himself to play the piano at age seven and later dropped out of medical school in order to pursue composition as his life's work. As a child his first film music experience occurred while watching the Jules Verne classic Mysterious Island. Years later he discovered that Bernard Herrmann had composed the score. Later on, Pink Floyd became an influence, specifically their innovative production techniques and use of psychedelic textures. While studying at Bard College he joined the chamber choir that specialized in the works of Renaissance composer Josquin DePrez. Here he began to gain a much deeper understanding of contrapuntal technique and absolute pitch. After school he steeped himself in the world of Brian Eno, tape loops and musique concréte while working with modern dance troupe Floorplay. He was also very much fascinated by Philip Glass, a composer who had created his own musical universe. Moving to New York City he landed an assistant's position at the then fledgling Elias Music. Within a short space of time he began an extended period of composing in every possible genre for television commercials and, working with Jonathan Elias, he pioneered what is known in the advertising industry today as "sound design." In the late eighties he was brought in to work with Aimee Mann' s band 'Til Tuesday as keyboardist for their album Everything's Different Now and subsequent tour. He then began the Zoar project, a series of dark atmospheric albums. The debut album, Cassandra, was released in 1997 on the Philip Glass label Point Music. Neil Strauss of The New York Times dubbed Zoar "Masters of the cinematic instrumental." In 1995 he opened his own commercial music company, Sacred Noise and is considered one of the top composers in the field. Several of his pieces are included in the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art. Subsequently he has composed scores for numerous films including Joan Stein's One Day Crossing that was nominated for an Academy Award in 2001. In 2003 he conceived and produced Erik Friedlander's critically acclaimed solo album Maldoror. He has recently written and recorded a series of new chamber works. Allan Kozinn of The New York Times called his String Quartet No. 2 "an experiment in intensity...a forceful wave of sound." He is the composer of choice for the TED Conference. His new album Such Siren Worlds, ten post-rock instrumental tracks, will be released in 2008. He lives in New York City with his wife Jane Wulf and their son Mario.