 Crouse graduated from the Juilliard School in 1951, where he studied with Milton Katims, Ivan Galamian, and Dorothy DeLay.In his debut Juilliard concert, he played the violin, but he was encouraged to switch to the viola.He served as the principal violist of the Houston Symphony for 28 of his 32 years there, during which he performed the Walton Viola Concerto under the direction of Sir William Walton three times in January 1969.