Margaret Perry

Margaret Perry is the group piano and piano pedagogy coordinator and teacher for the Conservatory of Music at University of the Pacific. She is also a rehearsal pianist for the opera department.

Perry attended Brigham Young University and received a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in piano performance and pedagogy and a master’s degree in piano performance. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance at the University of Arizona. She was a student of Margaret Garner, Paul Pollei and Rex Woods.

Perry has performed throughout the U.S. and Italy as a soloist and collaborative pianist. Before joining Pacific, she was ensemble artist pianist for the Utah Symphony and Opera. From 2002 to 2004, she performed with the ensemble artists throughout Utah, Nevada and Wyoming to bring opera into the schools and communities. She was also one of the accompanists for the Studio Artists touring productions of “Don Pasquale” and “La Cenerentola” in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. In addition, she had served as an accompanist for the Utah Opera Chorus and the Utah Symphony Chorus working with conductors such as Anton Coppola, Kirk Muspratt, Deuane Kuenzi and Susanne Sheston.

In 2002 Perry won the first place and the audience award in the Green Valley Concert Association Piano Competition. As a Medici Scholars Award Recipient in 1999 and 2000, she participated in the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Vietri sul Mare, Italy, and the Corsi Internazionali di Musica in Urbino, Italy. She also did research for her dissertation on the piano music of Italian composers Alfredo Casella and Gian Francesco Malipiero. She has performed in master classes for distinguished pianists such as Renato Premezzi, Louis Nagel, Thomas Mastroianni and Dalton Baldwin.

Perry is involved in numerous collaborative projects with colleagues and within the community. She has been a pianist for the Stockton Symphony, Stockton Opera Association, Stockton Civic Theatre and Stockton Chorale. During the 2007 Brubeck Festival, she performed with bassist Kevin Deas, a recipient of the 2006 Brubeck Institute Award for Distinguished Achievement.

Margaret is an active member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California. She currently serves on the State Board of Directors as first vice president. She has also served as first director on the MTAC State Board (2021-2023), MTAC San Joaquin County Branch president (2017-2021) and MTAC Lodi Branch recording secretary (2013-2017).

Perry is a member of MTNA, CAPMT, Pi Kappa Lambda, Mu Phi Epsilon and Phi Kappa Phi.