Betty Roe

Biography

Betty Roe was born in North Kensington, London, England. Her father was a fishmonger at the Shepherd's Bush Market, and her mother was a bookkeeper. Roe took piano lessons from the age of six with Madam Dorina and began writing music and arrangements in her teens during World War II when she assisted with choirs at the local church. She studied piano with Fiona Addie, Muriel Dale, and Sadie MacCormack, and cello with Alison Dalrymple at the Royal Academy of Music, but left school in 1947 and took a job as a filing clerk. She continued at the Royal Academy in 1949, studying piano with York Bowen, cello with Alison Dalrymple, and voice with Jean McKenzie-Grieve. She continued her study of singing with Clive Carey, Roy Hickman, Peter van der Stolk, and Margaret Field-Hyde, and studied composition with Lennox Berkeley. In the 1950s she became involved with a drama group where she began writing for musicals. She also worked as a sessions singer with London ensembles.

Roe married John Bishop and had three children. She was Director of Music at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art from 1968–78, and founded Thames Publishing with her husband in 1970. After his death in 2000 Thames Publishing became a division of William Elkin Music Services.

Works

Roe composes solo songs, choral and sacred music, musicals, operas, instrumental pieces, and music for schools. Selected works include:

Her compositions have been recorded and issued on CD, including:

Works with Marian Lines

Roe has worked in partnership with librettist Marian Lines to produce six operas, twelve musicals, a pantomime, and a number of choral works.

Opera:

Musicals:

Choral works: