A native of Buffalo, New York, Gary Malvern showed an early interest in science and music. He began his trumpet studies with Charles Gleaves from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and attended the National Music Camp at Interlochen where he played in the World Youth Symphony. He enrolled at Oberlin College in 1976 as a double major in trumpet and biology. He studied trumpet with Gene Young and added a major in music history. After graduating in 1980, he began graduate work at the Yale School of Music where he continued his brass studies with Robert Nagel. During his years at Yale, he studied orchestral conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller who Malvern counts among his most inspirational teachers.  

Malvern performed with the Colorado Philharmonic and served as principal trumpet of the National Repertory Orchestra. He was solo cornetist with the American Wind Symphony and participated in the chamber music program at Yale in Norfolk. In the mid-80’s, Malvern served as conducting assistant for the National Repertory Orchestra.

Since 1983, Malvern has served on the music faculty at Furman University, where his work has included instructing trumpet students, teaching music history and theory courses, coaching chamber music, and conducting various ensembles including the Furman Opera. He spent a year as visiting professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and he has served as artist in residence abroad, most notably at University in Western Australia and at conservatories in Northern Italy. 

In 1999, Malvern was awarded Furman’s Meritorious Teaching Award.

Malvern has played in a variety of chamber music groups including Brass Ring, the Spoleto Festival Quintet, and the Aurora Brass Quintet who commissioned many new works for the ensemble. He has recorded frequently for the Nuove Musiche per Tromba (New Music for Trumpet) label, based in Verona, Italy. He is also a performer with Feste Fantini, a brass, organ and timpani ensemble, who performs regularly throughout the American West and throughout Europe.

Gary Malvern has been a member of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra for 40 years, 25 as principal trumpet.

Dr. Malvern’s life has been shaped by a boundless enthusiasm for the intrinsic connection between all disciplines and he is a bold advocate for the Liberal Arts. In addition to his activities as a musician, Malvern has been a translator, a story writer, a numismatist, and a collector of rare books and art. He is a member of Greenville’s Club of 39.