BENTLEY, Berenice Benson

Berenice Benson Bentley (January 2, 1887 – April 2, 1971) was an American music educator and composer, based in Chicago, described in 1960 as "one of America's best known composers of music for young people". Bentley taught and composed music for voice and piano. She published several compilations of short piano compositions for student use. "The beginning numbers are not melodically interesting," Jay W. Fay wrote in a 1931 review of her Melody Picture Book for Beginners, adding that "the material begins to gather interest melodically and harmonically, and most of it is well worth while."