Margret Gries

 Margret Gries has pursued a career in music that has included both academic research and historically inspired performance. Gries is known for her expertise as a harpsichordist and organist, and has also studied and performed extensively on Renaissance and Baroque violin and viola. She was a founding member of many period-instrument ensembles in the Pacific Northwest, including the Portland Baroque Orchestra under the directorships of Doug Leedy, Ton Koopman and Monica Huggett, and the original Seattle Pro Musica under the direction of Richard Sparks. Since 1999 Gries has been the music director of the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra in Ashland, Oregon, and continues to encourage early music concerts through the activities of the Oregon Bach Collegium in Eugene. She had also served for many years as continuo harpsichordist and lecturer for the Vancouver Early Music Programme.

After completing her BA in Philosophy at Pacific Lutheran University, Gries continued researching interdisciplinary topics with graduate study in philosophy at Yale University and in eighteenth-century performance practice at Cornell University. She has also served as instructor in music, philosophy and humanities at Central Washington University and continues to offer a summer graduate course in Philosophy of Music there. Gries received her Ph. D. in music history from the University of Oregon, where she currently teaches continuo and directs the Collegium Musicum.