He earned his Ph.D at The University at Buffalo where he studied composition with Morton Feldman and piano with Yvar Mikhashoff.
[3] After graduation, Vigeland toured for eight years with percussionist Jan Williams and flautist Eberhard Blum, performing extended length works for flute, percussion and piano that Feldman composed for them.
From 1980 to 1989, Vigeland directed The Bowery Ensemble, which gave an annual series of concerts in Cooper Union, NYC.
The ensemble was strongly associated with the music of the New York School and gave the first performance of over thirty works by composers including Pauline Oliveros, Christian Wolff, Leo Smit, Chris Newman and John Thow.
[5] He taught at Manhattan School of Music for thirty years, retiring as Chair of the Composition Department in 2013.