Gary was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (O.N.Z.M.) in the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of his services to music.

In November 2000, Gary was presented the prestigious Scroll of Honour by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand: "for his dedication and skill in his craft and for bringing the joy of orchestral music to the people. We acknowledge his achievements and salute his professionalism."

In 2005 the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, named Gary a Paul Harris Fellow.

Gary was born in Auckland, New Zealand, educated at Auckland University and Auckland Teachers Training College. He started his musical career in brass bands as a euphonium player, later changing to clarinet, playing in symphony orchestras, jazz combos and top New Zealand ‘rock‘ bands during the 60’s.

Gary started playing the piano seriously when he was 21 becoming a top line jazz and rock/pop pianist. He also doubled on alto and tenor saxophones with the clarinet. He stayed on in the brass band world for many years as a percussionist and drummer while continuing to play in symphony orchestras as a clarinettist and professional percussionist.

Gary is a qualified Secondary School teacher in Economics, Accounting and Music and was selected by the New Zealand Education Department as "Composer in Schools", a one year appointment that he held for two years in 1978/79. During that time he composed many songs and musicals for children that have remained very popular and are still regularly performed.

As a composer, Gary has written works for orchestra, accordion, children’s songs and musicals, with over 600 TV and radio advertising jingles and film sound tracks. Interestingly enough, he did not compose any songs or music during his rock ‘n’ roll years, even though his band had several hit records.

Gary is New Zealand's most prolific and successful composer and arranger of music for the accordion, although he does not play the accordion. His musical arrangements and compositions for accordion orchestras and solo accordion are still used extensively around the world.

Gary has held the position of Musical Director/Conductor, of the Auckland Symphony Orchestra. since its formation in 1975.

On the international scene, Gary has conducted many major orchestras including London’s Royal Philharmonic, the Shanghai Symphony, the Taiwan Symphony, the Moravian Philharmonic-Czech Republic; conducted symphony concerts in Jakarta, Indonesia and the National Symphony Orchestra of Malaysia, the Turkish State Orchestras of Istanbul, Bursa and Adana, conducting with them, many of his own compositions.

In 2002 he was the first New Zealander to be invited to conduct in South Korea, where he was guest conductor of the Incheon City Symphony Orchestra.

In 2005 he conducted concerts with the Moravian Philharmonic, Czech Republic, in a programme of his original music and film scores.

His CD releases of his original music include:

* Youth of Auckland - New Zealand orchestral Music by Gary Daverne
* Gallipoli - New Zealand orchestral Music by Gary Daverne
* Rhapsody: New Zealand Music for Accordion and Symphony Orchestra by Gary Daverne
* Concert Accordion Music by Gary Daverne. Various artists. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.