Gary Clifford Dennis Brain OBE (12 August 1943 – 20 April 2015) was a New Zealand timpanist and conductor.
Following the accident, Brain retrained to become a conductor,[1] studying under Rafael Kubelík for four years, and attended master classes with Lorin Maazel.
[4] He studied piano, cello and composition with Boris Blacher and timpani with Werner Tharichen, the timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic.
He aimed to bring classical music to young people in a light-hearted and interesting way and at the same time promote the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
[7] In the 1984 New Year Honours, Brain was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to music.