I was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, and spent most of my childhood in Baltimore, Maryland. My parents were both musicians, and I took after them. I was a student at The University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music, and received a Bachelor of Music degree from there in 1982. I also attended The Walden School, a summer program for young composers, in Dublin, New Hampshire. I went to Cambridge University, where I got my Master's degree in 1983. In between, I was a student at Tanglewood. I've written chamber music, piano music, orchestral works, song cycles, and more recently a large work for percussion ensemble entitled 'Martellare' (which means 'struck' in Italian), and a Sonata for Viola and Piano.

I got interested in computers in 1987. I spent several years as a freelance interface design consultant, I've written 2 books on the Mac: Cool Mac Stacks (1992), and The QuickTime Handbook (1993), both published by Hayden Books. In 2005, my wife and I moved Vancouver, BC. I've gone back to school and am a Doctoral Candidate in Music Composition at the University of British Columbia.