The Royal Conservatory to Gift More Than 400,000 Books to Music Teachers in North America

The Royal Conservatory of Music is dedicated to supporting the remarkable teachers who transform the lives of their students by inspiring a lifelong love of music. As many are small business owners, music teachers were deeply affected by the pandemic. Recognizing that resources come at a cost, The RCM is giving Celebration Series, Sixth Edition books to 20,000 of its devoted teachers in Canada and the United States ensuring they have the materials they need to continue their valued work.

"The work of music teachers is more important than ever because the capacity to create and love music elevates the human condition in a way that no other activity can match," said Dr. Peter Simon, President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory. "Since the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus has been to ensure the continuance of music education by supporting the critical infrastructure of independent music teachers across North America. This unprecedented gift of Celebration Series® books will enable us to continue this vital support."

The extraordinary gift of more than 400,000 books for teachers is The RCM's latest contribution to fuel music education. Over the past two years The RCM has provided a solid infrastructure of support to music teachers by:

• Developing free teaching webinars that have been viewed by over 6,000 teachers to-date, helping them pivot to online teaching. A course dedicated to Online Teaching was subsequently created to provide further instruction, allowing teachers' skill set to continue to evolve.
• Providing free access to all RCM teachers in Canada and the U.S. to The RCM Teacher Portal, one of the world's largest online music teacher resources.
• Updating our Teacher Directory to allow students and parents to search for teachers who continued to offer music lessons in an online environment.
• Creating remote examinations, ensuring students can continue to receive recognition for their achievements from the safety and comfort of their homes. 50,000 students have completed remote examinations to date.

On April 27, 2022, The RCM will release the highly anticipated sixth edition of its Celebration Series, an essential resource for piano teachers. The series, coupled with the RCM Certificate Program curriculum, is the gold standard in piano education. The comprehensive, pedagogically levelled series features 514 pieces across 12 Repertoire and 10 Etudes books. Released once every seven years, this series includes both beloved classics and newly commissioned works.

"Curating the music in this outstanding series so that teachers and students have access to music that will inspire them is one way we realize our mission to develop human potential through music and the arts," said Elaine Rusk, Vice President, Academics and Publishing. "Sharing new compositions by living artists provides us an opportunity to connect people from around the world and inject vibrancy into the lives of our students."

The Celebration Series®, Sixth Edition includes pieces by 73 living composers and 32 recently composed pieces published for the first time in this series. This series features composers from more than 20 countries, including 47 Canadian composers and 54 American composers.

For more information on the Celebration Series®, Sixth Edition please visit: rcmusic.com/piano.

ABOUT THE RCM: The Royal Conservatory of Music is one of the largest and most respected music education institutions in the world, providing the definitive standard of excellence in curriculum design, assessment, performance training, teacher certification, and arts-based social programs. Visit our website at rcmusic.com.

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