He was born in Kankakee (Illinois, U.S.A), on 24/02/1954). He studied singing and choral conducting at the Illinois State University and the Opera School of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He specialized in the French and Italian repertory. He made his professional debut in 1978 as Cassio [Otello] at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and later sang the roles of Prunier [La rondine by Puccini] and Vania [Káťa Kabanová] Katya Kabanova. He appeared at the Opera of Montreal as Tybalt [Roméo et Juliette] and as Arturo [I puritani] opposite Luciana Serra. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as des Grieux in Massenet's Manon (1987). In Europe, he won acclaim for his performance in the works Les Huguenots by Meyerbeer, A Life for the Tsar by Ivanovich Glinka and Anna Bolena. He also won acclaim at the Pesaro Festival and the Rossini opera roles of Idreno [Semiramide] (1992). Argirio [Tancredi] (2004) , Rinaldo [Armida] (1993) opposite the debutante at the time Renee Fleming. He has also sang the roles of Rodrigo [La donna del lago], Arnold [Guillaume Tell], Ernesto [Don Pasquale], Nadir (The pearl fishers/Les pêcheurs de perles), Aeneas Enee [Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz], the Dutch knight [Armida by Gluck] etc. In collaboration with the GNO he sang the role of Arrigo [I vespri siciliani] at the Megaron Concert Hall in Athens (2012-13). His recordings include the operas Benvenuto Cellini (Virgin Classics and Lakme co-starring Natalie Dessay (Erato).