Born in 1946 Giles Swayne started composing at an early age and in his teens was helped by the advice and encouragement of his cousin Elizabeth Maconchy whilst studying the piano with Gordon Green. After leaving school he attended Guido Agosti's piano classes at the 1964 Accademia Chigiana summer school in Siena and that autumn went up to Trinity College Cambridge where he studied the piano with Phyllis Hepburn-Lee and composition with Nicholas Maw. In 1968 he won a composition scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music.
