Conner earned a B.S. from SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, and a Masters of Music in Orchestral Conducting from The New England Conservatory of Music. Following school, Conner directed music groups for public schools in New York and Massachusetts, played string bass in the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and was a founding member of the High Tor Opera Company. He served as director of The Boston Conservatory's Musical Theater Department, music director for several Boston College productions, The Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, MA, The North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA, and The South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA.