He earned his Ph.D. in musicology from Yale University and also holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the University of Michigan. His research interests center primarily on the music of the nineteenth century, in particular that of Felix Mendelssohn, and he has published several articles and book chapters exploring the intersection of music and Hellenism. He has also been the recipient of many prestigious grants and fellowships, including a Fulbright Grant and membership in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.