'Tidings of Great Joy' concert is gift to community from WLT on Dec. 6

Ruth Berry, cello, and Kevin Pollock, piano, will perform on Sunday, December 6, at the Bolton Lunceford Playhouse. Washington News Reporter, 2 col x 5" The Washington Little Theater will present "Tidings of Great Joy" by Duo Intermezzo: Ruth Berry, cello, and Kevin Pollock, piano, on Sunday, December 6, at 3 p.m. at the Bolton Lunceford Playhouse on North Alexander Avenue.

"Tidings of Great Joy" is a concert that celebrates and reflects on the importance of music during the holiday season. The program features creative settings for cello and piano of traditional and contemporary carols, in addition to unique arrangements of popular classical standards.

The concert is a Christmas gift to the community from the Little Theater and there is no admission charge.

Since moving to Georgia in 1990, Berry has enjoyed a number of musical adventures in the southeast as a performer, music educator, artistic director, and administrator. After holding the position of principal cellist of the Augusta Symphony Orchestra and Augusta Opera for 16 years, she concentrated her efforts on the activities of the Magellan String Quartet and its residence at Georgia Southern University in addition to work for the Greenville, S.C., Symphony as education director.

Berry now devotes her creative and educational energies to Duo Intermezzo and the other musical ensembles of In Praise of Music, in addition to coaching in her private studio. In the summer months Berry travels to New York to visit her family and perform with the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra where she performs in the cello section and specializes in continuo work for 17th and 18th century repertoire on baroque and modern cello.

Berry completed her bachelor's degree at Boston University School of Music where she majored in cello performance and musicology. Continuing her studies in musicology at Cornell University, she studied historical performance practice and received a master's degree.