His teachers were Branka Musulin and Poldi Mildner (piano), Richard Rudolf Klein (sound composition) and Helmuth Rilling (choir direction).
He studied musicology with Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht and Ludwig Finscher as well as history at the Goethe University Frankfurt.
After the Second State Examination in 1980 he was promoted from 1981 to 1988 then Akademischer Rat [de] at the Chair of Musicology of the University of Augsburg (Franz Krautwurst).
Since 2010, he has been Scientific Director of the Foundation Documentation and Research Centre of the German Choral Industry.
From 2010 to 2012, he was project manager "German Choral Studies" (Deutscher Chorverband [de]).