- He was born in the Bronx, New York and raised in Mount Vernon, New York. He studied piano and composition at the Mannes Music School in Manhattan now Mannes College. He studied composition with Gian Carlo Menotti at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he earned his Bachelor's degree in 1950.
- He is survived by his niece, Cecelia Levin and sister Norma Kastle Merker of San Francisco, California.
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