Marcia Ann Berry

MARCIA ANN BERRY, founding member of The NGOMA Group and its Artistic facilitator, was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.  She first began performing and singing solos in school productions at Holy Angels Catholic Grammar School and has been in some singing group since ten.  Her love of music was nurtured by her parents, grandmother, and her piano teacher, Lenamae Ingram.  Marcia Ann, after becoming a wife and mother of 3 sons, decided to share her love of music with others by becoming a music teacher. She received her degree in Music Education from DePaul University’s School of Music.  She began teaching in the Chicago Public Schools where she produced major musicals such as  “ANNIE”,  “PURLIE”, “THE WIZ”, and  “THE TRUTH ABOUT CINDERELLA”, and was selected to be on the curriculum writing team for music education for the system.

Marcia continued this tradition when she moved to the Catholic School System, where she produces a major musical every year.  She is now the Music Director at St. Dorothy Parish where she directs the Adult Choir, trains cantors, and coordinates music and liturgy in the parish school.  She is currently an auxiliary staff member of the music staff for the Archdiocese of Chicago, serving on the National Revision Committee for the Black Catholic Hymnal,  “LEAD ME, GUIDE ME”, a GIA publication, and a consultant for Black Catholic music for WORLD LIBRARY PUBLICATIONS.  But her greatest joy at the moment, is being a part of The NGOMA Group, where she found her true voice singing the blues!