Tony Waller was born and brought up in Chicago, Illinois. During high school, he studied unofficially at Chicago’s American Conservatory of Music, auditing classes and participating in rehearsals for percussion ensembles. While in school, he studied music, becoming a multi-faceted percussionist.
After a longtime profession as a railroad operations consultant, he became active in music again after a 40-year absence during the winding down of his career, playing with amateur community orchestras variously in California and Massachusetts. In his present retirement in North Carolina, he is active with two such groups. This background has served him in good stead for contributing his time as a volunteer announcer at WCPE, The Classical Station.