English organist and composer. Giles was organist of Worcester Cathedral, succceeding John Colden, from 1581 through 1585; BMus (Oxford) 1585. He became organist and choirmaster at St George's, Windsor in 1585, and Master of the Royal Children of the Chapel Royal in 1597. In 1600 he took over the Blackfriars Theatre and in collaboration with Ben Jonson ran a successful children's company there.1 Master of the Children of the King's Chapel 1612-25. Doctor of Musick of the King's Chapel 1625 -28.
Giles composed Latin church music as well as Anglican anthems and services, and contributed to Leighton's Teares.
1. Blackfriars, an old monastery, had been converted into a theatre by Richard Farrant. Before Giles leased it, for a few years before 1590, John Lyly, the playwright whose plays, blending the classic elements of the university drama with those of court interludes and masques, ushered in the great age of English drama, had managed a group of boy actors there.