Although from Kailua, Hawai'i, Gary comes to us from Germany, where he worked for twenty years conducting concert and jazz bands, and playing woodwinds in classical, jazz and pop ensembles. He is also a 22-year veteran of U.S. Air Force bands as a French hornist, trumpeter, arranger and then band commander.

Before that, he was a professional composer. He has concertized throughout Asia, the United States and Europe, from Saigon to Moscow. Among his positions, he was Composer-in-Residence of the Dallas ISD, Chief of Bands and Music, USAF, and was awarded the Castle Lichtenburg Prize of Musikantenlandes, Germany. He holds BM and MM degrees from Univ. of N. Texas and a Doctor of Musical Arts from The Catholic University of America.