The 1976 premier of his Sinfonie N° 1 afforded him his initial experience in the symphonic genre, both as composer and conductor at the Newport Music Festival.
Awards Among his awards as a composer are a BMI Award, First Prize in the National Society of Arts and Letters Composition Competition, an American Music Center Grant and a Fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for further study of composition with Isang Yun in Berlin in 1977.