He was born in Cleveland and graduated from Shaw High School in East Cleveland in 1930.Bio notes, Fantasy on American Sailing Songs, Boosey & Hawkes, 1952. He then attended Ohio State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in Music Education in 1934. For a few years, he taught instrumental music in Ohio and Kentucky public schools, but returned to Ohio State in 1937, where he taught orchestration, applied lessons in woodwind instruments, and conducted the band. He received his MA degree in 1940.
