Rzewski studied with such names as Walter Piston, Roger Sessions and Randall Thompson. He studied composition with Milton Babbitt and the music of Richard Wagner with Oliver Strunk at Princeton University from 1958-60, where he also studied Greek literature and philosophy. In addition, he studied composition privately with Luigi Dallapiccola in Rome in 1960. As a pianist, he frequently performed with the flautist Severino Gazzelloni in the 1960s. He then co-founded with Alvin Curran and Richard Teitelbaum the improvisational and live electronic ensemble Musica Elettronica Viva, in Rome in 1966 and performed with it from 1966-71. Since then, he has been active as a pianist, primarily in performances of his own pieces and music by other contemporary composers, making an appearance at Huddersfield Festival in 2009.

The People United Will Never Be Defeated is based on the Chilean protest song, '¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!', written by Sergio Ortega a few months before Pinochet's military coup in September of 1973.