Meltzer was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Long Island, where he studied piano and had instruction in music theory from Morton Estrin. Meltzer graduated from Amherst College, BA (1988), summa cum laude, where he studied composition with Lewis Spratlan, piano with Robert Miller, and bassoon with Frank Morelli.
Meltzer was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up on Long Island, where he received training in music theory from Morton Estrin while studying piano. He graduated from Amherst College with a BA (1988) and excelled academically, studying composition with Lewis Spratlan, piano with Robert Miller, and bassoon with Frank Morelli.