Mary Berry (conductor)

After receiving the university's John Stuart of Rannoch Scholarship in Sacred Music, she took her parents to the Abbey of Solesmes in France, which for decades had been a leader in reviving Gregorian chant.

[1] After professing solemn vows in 1945, Berry was sent to a school on the Monte Mario in Rome, where she taught English and music and was the infirmarian for the religious community and students.

[1] During this period, Berry saw the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church change dramatically, with the introduction of the vernacular in the Mass and Divine Office, both significant parts of her daily routine as a canoness.

[1] To promote Gregorian chant, Berry gathered a chorus of amateur singers, both Catholic and Anglican, as well as choirmasters and organists to form a body which would perform the ancient music.

To present their music, a Solemn High Mass was celebrated by Alan Clark, the Roman Catholic Bishop of East Anglia, for which more than three times the expected number of participants attended.

After such a display of interest, it was agreed that an occasional choir, made up of choral scholars and talented amateurs, would be allowed to give concerts in the chapel.

Berry traveled widely to promote the teaching and singing of Gregorian chant, and organized and participated in many workshops and courses, including Spode Music Week, of which she was a patron.

In 1997 she led a recording in the Roman Basilica of San Gregorio Magno al Celio to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of Augustine of Canterbury's arrival in England.

[1] In 2000 Berry was awarded the Papal Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope John Paul II to honor her for her service to the Roman Catholic Church.

[2] Berry died in 2008 and was buried in the Church of St Birinus at Dorchester, Oxfordshire, where her Schola had sung the Paschal Triduum for the previous ten years.