Standfirst: She writes national anthems, teaches children, gives stunning guitar performances, composes fantastic music and even fits in a surf or two - is there no stopping Hayley Savage? Reporter Will Saunders went to the guitarist's Slimbridge home to find out...

AT some point every teenager dreams of being a great musician. Few of us have escaped the indignity of being caught playing air guitar with a football sock around our heads or swearing at our parents because they will not let us leave school to concentrate on our music.

Classical guitarist Hayley Savage probably never wore a football sock around her head but she is one of the lucky few whose musical talent and ambition extends further than a hormonal teenage dalliance.

Raised in Hawkesbury Upton and educated at Katharine Lady Berkeley's School in Wotton-under-Edge, the modest 28-year-old has attracted growing critical acclaim with her virtuoso performances and startlingly original compositions.

She has recently joined with friends and fellow guitarists Rebecca Baulch and Amanda Cook to form the Atomic Kitten of classical guitar, Appassionata - an act so eagerly anticipated they are already meeting with record companies before they have even performed.

In between her musical commitments Hayley finds time to teach piano at Beaudesert School in Minchinhampton and even shoe-horns in the occasional surfing trip to Cornwall.

At her cosy canalside home in Slimbridge Hayley admits she is perfectly suited to the country life.

"I grew up in Hawkesbury Upton so I have always lived in the Cotswolds. I love it here," she said. "I think having a family that encouraged me to enjoy the outside world has had an enormous impact.

"My fiance describes me as an organic composer because I am not at all a scholarly musician. I don't sit in a darkened room feeding myself music all the time. If I am looking for inspiration I will just go for a walk and get some fresh air. I think my music reflects that."

This unique style, coupled with obvious talent as a composer, has landed Hayley a string of big commissions, most recently the chance to write a new 'national anthem' for Wessex, replacing Parry's classic hymn 'Jerusalem'.

"A woman has written a poem in Wessex dialect and I have to write music for it," she said. "It is quite a challenge because they want it to be very singable, almost like a pop song. That is not at all the sort of music I usually do.

"I have to imagine it being sung in a stadium by thousands of people. I want people to like it but I don't want it to be cheesy. It is just finding that balance."

Hayley is also finding her balance in her other passion, surfing. Although still a wave-riding novice, her determination to master the challenging sport is evidence of her own sense of drive.

"I have been surfing for a few years now," she said. "I enjoy it because I find it really, really hard. It is the most frustrating thing I have ever done.

"The moment you find something is hard you get the bit between your teeth and you just want to keep doing it. You have to rely on what the sea is doing but when you actually get a wave that's it, that's your reward."

For Hayley, the challenge of her new passion reflects her burgeoning career as a composer.

"It is still such a challenge to write music - it just seems to get bigger and bigger," she said. "You are always learning so you can never close the gap between where you are and where you would like to be.

"I just want to be satisfied that I am doing my absolute best, that I could not do anything better."

Appassionata stages its debut concert in Bath Assembly Rooms tonight - for more information call 020 8850 2585.