Utah composer Chance Thomas scores big with soundtracks, ads for the LDS Church

Chances are you may not have heard his name. But if you play video games, you've heard his music.

Chance Thomas is an Academy Award-winning video-game composer who has worked on such games as "Peter Jackson's 'King Kong,' " "Lord of the Rings Online," "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance," "X-Men: The Official Game," "Littlest Pet Shop" and "Warcraft III," among many others.

Oh, and you can add the soundtrack to the much-anticipated video game "Avatar," based on the upcoming James Cameron epic film, to the list. The "Avatar" video game will be released Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Still, video-game soundtracks aren't the only things for which Thomas is famous.

In 2002, Thomas won an Academy Award for the short film "The ChubbChubbs," which was Sony Pictures' introduction to big-budget animated films.

He also has an Emmy Award for his work on 1996's "Rise Above the Blues," a TV ad for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And he has an Aurora Award for scoring the short film "Inspire: the Chicago Spire Art Film" in 2007.

Furthermore, Thomas is also what Utahns might call a "local boy." He lives in Bountiful.

However, his journey through life didn't start in the Beehive State. It started in Oklahoma City in the 1960s.

His mother was a violinist and opera singer. Classical music was always playing in the house.

"I was fascinated by the piano and violin," Thomas said in an interview with the Deseret News. "The piano was easier. So I took lessons for about a year."

One day his mother brought home a soundtrack album for "Hair." And that was a life-changing moment for Thomas.

"She put it on and I said, 'Wow! Music can do that?' " Thomas remembered.

Growing up in the '70s, Thomas discovered his own music and enjoyed bands such as Kansas, Boston, Styx, Foreigner, Elton John and Yes.

"I tended to gravitate to the more classically inspired bands," he said.

Throughout high school, Thomas formed and played in progressive rock bands until he was called to Italy on a mission for the LDS Church. When he returned home in 1982, he met his bride-to-be, Pamela, at a singles ward family home evening.

"She came up and introduced herself and called me a couple of days later," Thomas said with a grin. "We went out and she had the audacity to make me wait 1½ years before she agreed to marry me."

During that 18 months, Thomas worked at UPS, putting his music on hold to earn a business degree at Oklahoma State University.

A torn shoulder muscle reopened the music door.

"While I was in rehab, my friend called and told me about a pizza restaurant that was looking for entertainers."

Thomas dusted off his keyboards, pulling together some songs for an audition.

"I got the job, which paid better than UPS."