Giles Swayne

Giles Oliver Cairnes Swayne, a distinguished British composer, was born in Hertfordshire and spent much of his youth in Liverpool. His early foray into music blossomed into a full-fledged career marked by education at Ampleforth College and Cambridge University. There, he honed his craft under the tutelage of Raymond Leppard and Nicholas Maw, later advancing to the Royal Academy of Music as a student of luminaries such as Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Bush, and again, Maw. His creative development was further shaped by his attendance at Olivier Messiaen's classes in Paris and a culturally-enriching study visit to Gambia and southern Senegal. As composer-in-residence in London's borough of Hounslow from 1980–83, he integrated these diverse influences into his work. Swayne's personal life is interwoven with his academic lineage, being related to Elizabeth Maconchy and Nicola LeFanu, and his partnership with his second wife, Naaotwa Codjoe, in Ghana. He later married violinist Malu Lin in 2002.