Ruth Berry

Artist in Residence

Ms. Berry went to college at Boston University School of Music (where she studied cello with Leslie Parnas and received the Edwin E. Stein Award for Excellence in the Arts). Her graduate degree and studies at Cornell University were in musicology, analytical techniques and performance practice. She is currently working on an Advanced Certificate in Labor Studies from the Cornell School of Industrial Labor Relations. In addition to serving as Artist in Residence at Hartwick College, Ms. Berry teaches cello at Colgate University and SUNY Oneonta.

Ms. Berry is a founding member of several chamber ensembles, including the Castalia Quartet of the Catskills, the Fenimore String Quartet, the Magellan String Quartet, the Continuo Collective of the South, and Ensemble Sonaris. She is the founder and Artistic Director of the musician-run chamber orchestra, Lyra Vivace, and a unique musician collective, In Praise of Music (www.inpraiseofmusic.org).

Since 1986, Ms. Berry performs during the summers with the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra
(specializing in solo continuo accompaniment on baroque or modern cello when the programming calls for it)–and, when not in the orchestra pit, lives in her historic and award-winning Kitt Shipman Memorial Chapel in Springfield Center, NY. During the “off summer” months, she travels regularly to perform with chamber and symphonic arts organizations throughout the North and Southeastern USA.

Ms. Berry is the principal cellist of the Fenimore Chamber Orchestra and the Colgate Orchestra. She holds section positions with the Binghamton and South Carolina Philharmonics. Prior to her move back to her hometown of Hamilton, NY, she worked for 18 years as principal cello of the Augusta GA Opera and Augusta Symphony in addition to work as an artist in residence with the Magellan String Quartet at Georgia Southern University and regular free-lance work with Atlanta Baroque and the Savannah Symphony.