 In 1952 he was awarded an Italian Government Bursary and studied composition with Goffredo Petrassi at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome.In 1957 he married Margaret Anne Severs, and later had four children; Sally, Gillian, Mary and William.After some years working free-lance in London as a teacher, composer, and examiner he returned to New Zealand, where he spent ten years as a lecturer at the University of Auckland.