Gary E. McPherson

Gary E. McPherson is the Ormond Professor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, the University of Melbourne. He studied music education at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, before completing a master of music education at Indiana University, a doctorate of philosophy at the University of Sydney and a Licentiate and Fellowship in trumpet performance through Trinity College, London. In 2021, he was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate – Artium Doctorem Honoris Causa – from Lund University Sweden. Gary has served as National President of the Australian Society for Music Education and President of the International Society for Music Education.

Gary co-founded Research Studies in Music Education and has served on the editorial boards of over 20 journals in music education and music psychology. He has published over 300 academic contributions including co-authored, edited and co-edited volumes for Oxford University Press: Music in Our Lives: Rethinking Musical Development, Ability and Identity; The Child as Musician: A Handbook of Musical Development; Musical Prodigies: Interpretations from Psychology, Education, Musicology and Ethnomusicology; The Oxford Handbook of Music Education; and The Oxford Handbook of Music Performance. His research interests are broad and his approach interdisciplinary. His most important research examines the acquisition and development of musical competence, and motivation to engage and participate in music from novice to expert levels. With a particular interest in the acquisition of visual, aural, and creative performance skills, he has attempted to understand more precisely how music students become sufficiently motivated and self-regulated to achieve at the highest level.