He attended Eastman School of Music in 1980, studying drums, vibraphone, arranging and improvisation with Ray Ricker, Bill Dobbins, Dave Ratajczak, and Lee Musiker.

He has also worked with Lorne Lofsky, Paul Hoffert,[1] Don Thompson, Russ Little, Terry Clarke, Pat LaBarbera, Guido Basso, Steve Wallace, John Sherwood, Nancy Walker, Richard Underhill, George Koller, Reg Schwager, Dave Young and Bratty and the Babysitters.

[2] Early in his career, Gelcer composed music for film and television, including Price of Vengeance (1985),[3] The Journal on CBC (1985–89), and My Happy Days in Hell (1994).

[7] In 2013, Gelcer released his second album, Bhakti Groove Machine, which was recorded with Grammy-nominated producer Ben Leinbach (Jai Uttal, Deva Premal, Snatam Kaur).

[20] He has served on the boards of several arts organizations including the Glenn Gould Foundation from 2010 to 2013 as Fundraising Chair,[21] Toronto Summer Music Festival, Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, and Mariposa in the Schools.