Charles Chaynes

Charles Chaynes (1925-2016) was a French composer born in Toulouse to two musician parents. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Darius Milhaud and Jean Rivier and won the Prix de Rome in 1951. Alongside composing operas, concertos and chamber music, he spent most of his career at French public radio, where he ran France Musique and later the music creation department of Radio France. Chaynes joined French radio as a producer in 1956, later succeeded Marius Constant at the head of France Musique and directed music creation at Radio France from 1975 to 1990.