Early in his career, Festinger played guitar and toured with folk singer Joan Baez, including a performance at Woodstock in 1969. Shortly afterwards, intent on pursuing a performing career in jazz, he attended the [l400812] in Boston, where he studied composition with Herb Pomeroy and improvisation with Gary Burton. Returning to San Francisco in 1972, he performed extensively for several years as a jazz guitarist while pursuing a growing interest in classical music and composition.

Festinger earned his B.A. from [l444720] and later his M.A. and Ph.D. from the [l614635] where he worked with composer Andrew Imbrie. Since 1990, Festinger has been a Professor of Theory and Composition at [l444720]. Festinger’s work as a contemporary Classical composer, comprising more than 80 compositions across a variety of genres, has been widely recognized for its elegance and emotive power.