Robert Merkley is a string player, teacher, and conductor who moved to Talbot County, Maryland in 2016. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY, a Master of Music Degree from West Chester University in West Chester, PA and a Mathematics Certification from Albright College in Reading, PA. He has done subsequent graduate work at Penn State University, Villanova University and University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
He was the Elementary String Instructor and Orchestra Director in the Boyertown Area School District in Pennsylvania from 1972 – 1987 and conducted the Boyertown Junior High and Senior High Orchestras from 1999-2008. Under Bob’s direction, both groups consistently took 1st place in adjudicated festivals in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio. In 2005 The Boyertown High School Orchestra won the $1000 First Prize in The National Orchestra Festival held in Warwick, Rhode Island.
During three overseas music tours with Boyertown High School, Bob conducted concerts in England, Scotland, and France and Italy. A highlight of the 2006 tour was the Boyertown Orchestra performance in Florence, Italy as part of the World Sacred Music Festival. That tour also included orchestra performances in Sienna, Padua, and Rome.
He co-founded the Berks County Elementary Orchestra Festival in 1975, and started the Schuylkill Valley Youth Orchestra in 1984. He served as advisor and string coach for the Tri-County Orchestra from 1980 – 1983. He served as an adjudicator for Berks County, PA District 10, and Pennsylvania all-state orchestra festivals. He was on the executive board for AFM local 211, the executive board of The Boyertown Education Association, and the board of directors of The Pottstown Symphony Orchestra.
He played violin in The Allentown Symphony Orchestra from 1977-1982, The Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra from 1979-1983, and The Pottstown Symphony Orchestra from 1973-1983 and 2000-2009, The Reading Pops Orchestra from 1980 – 1982 and 2001 – 2015, and The Bridge String Quartet from 2002 – 2015.