Minnesota composer Melody Bober has been composing, arranging and writing educational piano music for more than 25 years. This year, she was chosen to be part of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s sixth edition of its acclaimed Celebration Series piano books, which will be released April 27.
Living in Park Rapids, Minnesota, Bober has been creating musical experiences for children of all ages and skill groups for most of her career. While she is a successful composer and arranger outside of her educational endeavors, teaching remains close to her heart.
“I create pieces that offer a challenge, technical growth, expression, and are nice to listen to,” she said. “The first edition of the Celebration Series started in 1988, and the early 2000s is when I was first selected to be a part of it.”
The Celebration Series is published by the Royal Conservatory of Music, which was founded in 1886 in Toronto, Canada, as a not-for-profit organization that supports music students and their teachers throughout North America. The widely used series is a graded collection of repertoire and etudes for piano study from elementary through advanced levels that includes music from all style periods. While composing for all groups is fulfilling, Bober said that intermediate students are the best to compose and arrange for.
Pieces are chosen by a group of more than 350 teachers, musicians and other experts from North America. Bober says she is proud to be involved with a program that includes other popular American composers such as Nikeiru Okoye, Florence Price and Valerie Capers.
“My music already appears on the selected list, but it’s a brilliant moment to be on the rep list and Celebration Series again,” she said about this year's edition. “This serves as a guide for teachers to achieve educational excellence. It’s the largest and most respected education supplement in the world.
“It is a great honor for me to have music chosen by RCM. It is a passion, blessing and such joy to write for young people.”
Listen to Setting Sail, which is one of Bober’s works that is part of the 2015 Royal Conservatory syllabus.
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