Bruce Cole is a 26 year-old English composer who, though a fairly late starter, has a number of substantial pieces to his credit. He studied with Harrison Birtwistle at the Royal Academy of Music from 1968 to 1972, having previously been engaged in such varied activities as playing piano in a rock group and free-lancing as a motor mechanic.

With Birtwistle, Cole started from the beginning: he entered the Academy still undecided as to what he should do and actually took composition as a second study for his first term (with piano as first study). He had no previous training in composition, but Birtwistle's teaching methods—described by Cole as ‘building in a straight line’—served as an excellent catalyst.