Franklin Gyselynck studied music theory at the Royal Conservatories of Ghent and Brussels (with Victor Legley and Jan Louel) and then composition at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo. He also took summer courses in Aix-en-Provence, studying with Henri Dutilleux, among others. In 1974, his first String Quartet won the Prize of the Royal Academy for Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium. His 1976 Ballade for violin and piano, distinguished with the SABAM Prize, was the compulsory work at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in that year. In 1978, Gyselynck won the Oscar Esplà Prize for his composition Las Alturas de Macchu-Picchu. The third String Quartet (1978-79) was awarded the Grand Prix de Composition musicale de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco and was also selected for the International Society for Contemporary Music Festival in Tel Aviv. Gyselynck taught harmony and counterpoint at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven from 1971 to 1974 and at present teaches harmony, counterpoint and analysis at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels.