Born in Hungary in1932 he moved to Rome in 1938. At the age of six he studies violin and at eight piano and composition. In his teens he was a professional Jazz Sax player. In 1959 he graduates in Composition with Goffredo Petrassi at the Conservatorio di S. Cecilia (Rome). Follows a year in Paris with Max Deutsch. Back in Italy he attends the Postgraduate Courses held by G. Petrassi at the Accademia di S. Cecilia. 
In 1961 he is awarded the first prize of the International Competition of the SIMC- the first of many other important international recognitions.
In 1971 his Master Degree in Ethnomusicology at the University of California in Los Angeles UCLA followed up with a research in the Himalaya regions on the music of the tibetan Buddhism.
Member Performer of the Improvisation Group of Nuova Consonanza and Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) together with Frederick Rzewski and Alvin Curran among others.
He succeds Alain Danielou as Chair of the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies of Berlin, staying in charge until 1983, taking over the “Scuola Interculturale di Musica” in Venice; Vice-president of the italian Society of Ethnomusicology; visiting Professor in Composition at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Further he has held many conferences and seminars; member of several international Juries, including the Kyoto Prize. Author of the book “La Musique du Bouddhisme Tibétain” (Paris, Buchet/Chastel, 1977); his articles and compositions are edited by BMG Ariola, Edipan, Edizioni Suvini-Zerboni and Ricordi.
Since 1983 he taught Composition at the Conservatories “G. B Martini” of Bologna and “S. Cecilia” of Rome.
Web: http://www.aidarte.org/english/vandor.htm