He grew up in the family of an instrument maker and studied violin with Gudbrand Bøhn and music theory with Gustav Fredrik Lange, Johannes Haarklou and Catharinus Elling at the Oslo conservatory (1891-96). He continued to study violin with Florian Zajic in Berlin (1896). After a first position in Bergen (1898-99) as a violin teacher he took the position of first violinist in the orchestra at Kristiania’s National Theater (1899-1903). He then moved to London to study violin with C. Thomson, afterwards performing in Great Britain and the United States. In 1907 he accepted the position as bandmaster (“kapellmester”) at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen and in the following year of the municipal orchestra Harmonien. He lead the orchestra in difficult times and demonstrated his opposition to Nazi-propaganda openly several times during the German occupation (more about his role during the years of occupation in the Chapters III and IV of Custodis „Music and Resistance“).
