 Conrad performed in the Bay Area as a "visual musician" with musician Jordan de la Sierra and played in poet Daniel Moore's Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company.Later in the 70s, having returned to Baltimore County, Maryland, Conrad studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where he earned an MFA from The Hoffberger School of Painting under Grace Hartigan in 1981.The term “chromaccord”, meaning “colors-together”, was coined by Conrad in 1999 when he built a refined version of his color machine.