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Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger who revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango. Born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Piazzolla spent significant childhood years in New York City. He returned to Argentina as a teenager, mastering the bandoneón and playing in traditional tango orchestras. Dissatisfied, he studied classical composition. His fusion of tango with elements of jazz and classical music created the innovative and controversial 'nuevo tango'.

• Traditional tango purists in Argentina initially despised Piazzolla's innovations, considering his nuevo tango a betrayal; he faced hostility, including a physical assault after a 1953 Buenos Aires concert.
• A near-fatal thrombosis in 1973 forced him to temporarily stop playing the bandoneón, leading him to focus intensely on composition during his recovery.
• Piazzolla suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in Paris on August 4, 1990, which left him in a coma. He never recovered and died almost two years later, on July 4, 1992, in Buenos Aires.
• Despite early rejection in Argentina, he achieved significant international recognition and critical acclaim later in his career, becoming Argentina's most famous musical export.