Roberta Radley
From the Boston area, Sister Berta started her singing career playing “Dorothy” in the 4th grade production of the Wizard of Oz, wowing the audience with her father’s favorite song, “Over the Rainbow.” And like the yellow brick road, all roads eventually lead to Berklee College of Music, where Roberta met both Gaye and Ruthie.
Roberta is the Assistant Chair of the Ear Training department, and has been teaching at Berklee for over thirty years. In many ways, the classroom is Ms Radley’s best and favorite performance stage. She earned recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Music Education from the College, has authored several ear training textbooks and two online courses. She has traveled widely on behalf of Berklee, presenting seminars and performances across the US and internationally.
Sister Berta is a seasoned vocalist and pianist, having performed countless gigs in all musical settings and styles. She is thrilled to join up with Gaye and Ruthie, singing and swinging her way through the jazz and swing standards of earlier times. Roberta has created several of the sisters’ vocal arrangements, giving the tunes her own personal touch. Sister Berta particularly enjoys rehearsing the music at Sister Gaye’s, where something good is always cookin! Berta’s specialties are her famous chocolate chip cookies, mashed potatoes and deviled eggs with bacon.
Ruthie Ristich
Called "a jazz vocalist of uncommon range and depth of feeling" by the Boston Globe, versatile singer and arranger Ruthie Ristich has been an active performer and group leader for more than two decades. Venues range from clubs and concerts in New England to Sting's Rainforest Foundation, the Venice Biennale, the Peace Boat event at Riverside Cathedral in New York City to the National Institute for Medical Research in London.Vocal group harmony has always been part of her life with experiences that cover the spectrum from barbershop quartet to concert chorales, madrigal octets to acoustic folk. Favorite vocal groups and vocal harmony from the time her ears really started listening include the Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y, Joni, Laura Nyro with LaBelle, the Supreme's, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, the Temptations, Four Tops, Gladys Knight, the Singers Unlimited, King Singers, Lambert Hendricks and Ross, the Hi-Lo's, and many more.
Ruthie's years of experience as a Berklee graduate, coupled with a Master's in film studies/digital media from Harvard, inform her other pursuits. In addition to being an award-winning video artist, she is a voice teacher, media arts educator, and performer/producer at events benefiting environmental, sociopolitical, and children's charities. A percentage of the sales from her CD, “Carefully Taught” (skydancer 2002), were donated to the Hague Appeal for Peace and their global campaign for peace education. Visit Ruthie's site.
Gaye Tolan Hatfield
A Massachusetts native, Sister Gaye is thrilled to be singing and swinging with Sisters Ruthie and Roberta. After having graduated from Berklee College of Music in the 80's, Gaye has been actively performing in the Boston area as both a vocalist and instrumentalist in a variety of musical settings, from classical to jazz, and from hotels to the stage at Symphony Hall.In addition to performing, she is a composer and arranger whose music has been heard on radio and television. Gaye has also arranged music for many of Boston's top vocalists, including Rebecca Parris and of course, the Sisters themselves. Gaye has been an Ear Training Department faculty member at Berklee College of Music for the past 15 years. She also enjoys traveling with and cooking for friends and family, including her husband Brad and children Paul and Lee.