The De Berry’s family sacrifice helps to land the stringed wonders on the stage at Lincoln Center
by Elizabeth Lazarowitz, NY Daily News
The De Berry kids are heading for Lincoln Center.
A group of four violin-playing Brooklyn sisters and their cello-playing brother have so inspired folks at the prestigious performance hub that they’ve invited them all to be their guests.
“We were just so moved by their devotion to music and the arts and their family’s sacrifice,” said Lincoln Center president Reynold Levy after reading Tuesday’s report in The News about the Bedford-Stuyvesant family.
Dad Sean De Berry, 41, and his wife, Sherri, 46, are both out of work, but stretch their budget – eliminating vacations and eating out – to keep their kids in tune.
Levy contacted the family with invites to at least two different classical music performances.
“To have them go see professionals play these instruments, this might say to them: ‘This is something we can do for the rest of our lives,’” said Sean DeBerry.
Sisters Meghan, 16, Priya, 14, Taylor, 10 and Morgan, 9, all play violin, while their brother, Brian, 12, plays the cello. The kids practice together daily at home, and sometimes perform as a chamber group at their church.
This Sunday, they’ll see the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, and in the spring the Grammy-winning Emerson String Quartet.
Meghan can’t wait to attend her first live performance by a professional orchestra.
“I’m trying not to jump up and down,” she said. ” It will be cool to see where I could be soon.”
Levy says he hopes it keeps the De Berrys reaching for their dreams: “Nothing would please me more than 7 years from now to go buy a ticket to see them perform on a Lincoln Center stage.”
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October 21, 2010 at 12:37 am