Gary has a Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet from George Peabody College and was a member of the Nashville Symphony (under Thor Johnson) and Chicago Civic Orchestras. He also has a Master of Music degree in music history and literature from Northwestern University, where he specialized in early music and directed the Northwestern Collegium Musicum. During that time, he also performed with the University of Chicago Collegium Musicum and did extensive graduate research in early music performance under the renowned scholar, Howard Mayer Brown.
Gary twice received scholarships for the study and performance of early music at Yale University, and has a performance diploma in early music from Penn State University. He has attended master classes in recorder with Marion Verbruggen and David Hart.
Gary is founder and artistic director of the Chicago Early Music Consort.