Gerard composes, arranges, teaches, writes and broadcasts about music, particularly contemporary music. He writes music for both theatre and the concert world, and has reconstructed and arranged several previously lost Shostakovich works including HYPOTHETICALLY MURDERED, CHEROYMUSHKI and JAZZ SUITE NO 2. Between 2006 and 2016 Gerard was Creative Consultant to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and currently holds a similar post with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.