Following completion of his obligatory education he attended the teacher's seminar in Wohlen/Aargau. From 1978 until 1984 he was enrolled at the Zurich School of Music where he took violin as his major subject; parallel to this he practiced the piano with some vigour and was tutored in composition by Hans Ulrich Lehmann. In 1983 he received his teacher's diploma for violin and then attended the theory teacher's seminar at the same school for one year. Following this he continued his study of theory and composition under the tutelage of Helmut Lachenmann at the Stuttgart School of Music, a course he completed in 1988. From 1983 until 1993 he taught theory at the Zurich School of Music and has continued in this position at the Lucerne School of Music since 1992.
His artistic activities cover several areas: as a conductor (with a performance of the opera 'Der Kaiser von Atlantis' by Viktor Ullmann; a chamber music version of the Symphony N° 7 in E-major by Anton Bruckner; a chamber music version by A. Schönberg of 'Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen' by Gustav Mahler), as a harpsichordist and pianist on the pianoforte (chamber music in various formations and song accompaniment) and as a composer with a CD recording in September 2006 of 'Fragmentum pro organo' with the organist Jonas Herzog.