gary edward mcpherson (born april 1, 1954) is an australian music educator, academic and musician, who has researched various topics within the areas of musical development, music performance science and music psychology. he has served as the ormond chair of music at the melbourne conservatorium of music (mcm) since 2009 and between july 2009 and july 2019, served as director of the mcm at the university of melbourne. mcpherson's research primarily focuses on exploring the factors that influence the development of musical proficiency during childhood, later performance excellence, and the motivators of music participation in individuals of all ages and musical skill levels. much of his research has been informed by his interest in the formation of musical abilities and identity in developing musicians. mcpherson served as the foundation professor of creative arts at the hong kong institute of education from 2002 to 2005. prior to taking up his position at the mcm, he was the marilyn pflederer zimmerman endowed chair in the school of music, university of illinois at urbana-champaign from 2005 to 2009.