He received his first violin training with Henrik Due and also studied with Max Rosthal (1927-28), concert master of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Carl Flesch in London. He performed with the Oslo Philharmonics and became the concert master with the Harmonien Orchestra in Bergen in the seasons 1938-40. During these years he was also engaged to pianist Esther Barrat Due with whom he played many private concerts during the occupational years. Later he also made a career as a conductor. He survived an act of sabotage when the Milorg-group Kompani Linge placed a bomb onboard the fjord ferry D/F Hydro on 20 February 1944, which was loaded with Heavy Water for Germany, and the ferry sank in the fjord near Rjukan.
