He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and the University of Puerto Rico. He completed graduate studies at University of California, Los Angeles earning M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in music composition, music theory and literature. He carried out post-doctoral studies at the Ferienkurse fur Neue Musik, Darmstadt, Germany, and later at the University of Padua, Italy. He did further post-doctoral studies at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University, Eastman School of Music, and Harvard University.