Biography

Esther Rofe was born in Australia. She studied piano and violin with Alberto Zelman

Alberto Zelman

Alberto Zelman was an Australian musician and conductor, and founder of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra....

, Jr., Fritz Hart and A.E. Floyd and appeared with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...

 at age 13. She entered the Royal College of Music

Royal College of Music

The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and studied with Gordon Jacob

Gordon Jacob

Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob was an English composer. He is known for his wind instrument composition and his instructional writings.-Life:...

, Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...

 and R.O. Morris.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Rofe worked at the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), and the Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products . Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of...

 Radio Unit in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 where she began arranging and composing music. Rofe began composing for ballet in 1943. The Esther Rofe Songbook was published in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 in December 1999.

Rofe and her sister Edith moved to Southport

Southport

Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...

 where Rofe lived and worked for twenty years by the sea. She never married, but fostered a child. She died in February 2000 and her ashes were scattered in Southport Bay. The Esther Rofe Award was established in her honor at the University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

 in Australia.

Honors and awards

• 1993 Composer-of-Honour in the School of Music Conservatorium at Monash University
  Monash University
  Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
  
  .
• 1998 Australia Day Citizen of the Year award from the City of Boroondara
• 1998 Became a represented composer at the Australian Music Centre (AMC).

Works

Rofe was known for ballet. Selected works include:

• Sea Legend (1943) ballet choreographed by Dorothy Stevenson
• Terra Australis (1946) ballet choreographed by Edouard Borovansky
• L’Amour enchantee (1950) ballet choreographed by Martyn
• Mathinna (1954) ballet choreographed by Martyn
• The Lake (1962) rework of L’Amour enchantee for television