I was born in Kansas City, Missouri, where I began piano when I was four years old and began composing at the age of twelve. I also sang in a very good children’s choir and eventually took voice lessons. Rebelling against my piano teacher who wanted me to go to the concert stage in piano, I began serious study of the pipe organ. I became organist of a local church when I was still in high school.
I went to undergraduate school at the University of Kansas where I did not major in music but became very involved with activities in the School of Music as a studio accompanist and member of Phi Mu Alpha. I also became organist of the First Baptist Church in Lawrence as a Freshman. After a post-graduation year in Germany, I went to graduate school at the University of Michigan on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. While there, I was organist & choirmaster at St. Thomas the Apostle, a large catholic parish in Ann Arbor.
After another two years in Europe, I took a teaching position at the College of Wooster in Ohio and became organist and choir director at First Presbyterian Church in Wooster. Moving to Detroit two years later, I became organist and choirmaster at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Southfield, MI, before moving with my wife and son to teach at Miami University in Oxford OH. There I served Holy Trinity Episcopal Church as director of its Choir of Men and Children and sang in the Oxford Choral Ensemble. I also became involved in the music culture of Cincinnati and served as Dean of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Meanwhile, my activity as a composer, which had developed considerably in Michigan, increased substantially with commissions from Christ Church Glendale and performances by musical organizations at Miami University and in Cincinnati.
Some of this work has been published, some has not, but I have included music from both categories in this website that you can explore at your leisure. Please contact me, should you have questions about or interest in any of the unpublished works.