 He was married to Ella Gillis, a ballet dancer.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, he began studies at age 12 and 6 years later graduated from Boston's New England Conservatory of Music Lyford studied under George Whitefield Chadwick at the New England Conservatory of Music, and studied under Arthur Nikisch in Leipzig.Ralph Lyford assisted Claude Debussy in preparing his "Le martyre de Saint Sébastien" for its premiere.