He also holds a PhD in Composition from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under Warren Benson and Samuel Adler.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1976 to compose and arrange for television and film, he was commissioned by several local congregations to produce the synagogue works, 'Sim Shalom' from the Regeneration album, and 'Bayom Hahu' from the Nishmat Chayim Shabbat service.
[citation needed] He was co-commissioned by forty-three North American Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist Jewish congregations to compose and produce a Sabbath evening service entitled "L'maaseih V'reisheet - To Recreate the World" with standardized pre-recorded accompaniment tracks and synthesis and instrumentation (EWIs and EBIs).
The work simultaneously premiered on Shabbat Shirah, the Sabbath of Song in January 2001; making it the largest co-commission of synagogue music in history.
He composed a three-movement chamber work is for clarinet and string quartet entitled "The Shul In My Right Mind".