Vladimir Cosma was born April 13, 1940 in Bucharest, Romania, into a family of musicians. After receiving first prizes for violin and composition at the Bucharest Conservatoire of Music, he arrived in Paris in 1963 and continued his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, working with Nadia Boulanger. As well as for classical music he discovered early on a passion for jazz, film music and all forms of popular music.