Gretchen Gettes plays the viola da gamba in the Art & Literature Department balcony. Gretchen Gettes is a professional musician living in Philadelphia, whose life philosophy is to do more of what she loves. When she heard the beautiful, earthy tone of the viola da gamba, an instrument dating back to the 1400s, she knew she wanted to play it. She became consumed with producing the sound she was enamored of. The Free Library of Philadelphia became part of Gretchen’s life after moving to the neighborhood, and soon became a favorite hang. To be able to play viola da gamba at the Free Library is a dream come true!

For this performance, Gretchen plans to play sets of pieces by Marin Marais  and Antoine Forqueray - 2 composers in the court of Louis XIV- as well as works by Tobias Hume, Carl Friedrich Abel, and many others.