Starting out as a performer of Irish traditional music, he went on to study piano with Nuala Levins at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He then studied at the University of Ulster, gaining a B.Mus. in 2006 and a Masters in Music in 2007, studying composition with Frank Lyons, Laurence Roman and David Morris. In 2014 he graduated from Queen's University Belfast with a PhD in Composition, having studied with Professor Piers Hellawell.