[1][3] In his youth he attended the Nelson School of Music for piano (he later continued instruction in Wellington), while he studied the recorder with Zillah Castle.

[2] While in London, he continued piano with Dorothea Vincent, recorder with Walter Bergmann, and began flute with James Hopkinson.

[1] After brief military service from 1944 to 1945, he graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Arts for English and History in 1948.

[1] His obituary in The Guardian noted how "music was only a cover for what really interested him: meeting artistic and creative personalities, finding material for his own writing and design work".

[1] The Guardian called him "a key figure in the revival of the sympathetic performance of early music" and "one of New Zealand's most effective cultural ambassadors".