Prof Gary McPherson | Ormond Professor of Music, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
The University of Melbourne

Gary E. McPherson studied music education at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Indiana University, before completing his PhD at the University of Sydney. In 2021, he was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate - Artium Doctorem Honoris Causa - from Lund University Sweden. Gary is the Ormond Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne and has served as National President of the Australian Society for Music Education and President of the International Society for Music Education. 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 musical development, he has attempted to understand more precisely how music students become sufficiently motivated and self-regulated to achieve at the highest level.