Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute 2026

INTRODUCING OUR YAP PIANO INSTRUCTOR…

Marnie Van Weelden (ON)

Dr. Marnie Van Weelden enjoys a versatile career as a solo and collaborative pianist and devoted pedagogue based in the Kitchener–Waterloo region. She completed her Associate Diploma in Piano Performance (ARCT) with the Royal Conservatory of Music while still in her teens, began teaching at fourteen, and went on to earn an undergraduate degree in music from Western University followed by Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance and pedagogy on full scholarship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her principal teachers there included Louis Nagel and her mentor Logan Skelton, and she pursued further intensive study in Prague and at London’s Guildhall School of Music with Nelly Ben‑Or, focusing on the Alexander Technique and healthy, expressive technique at the piano.

A member of the Royal Conservatory College of Examiners and an RCM Certified specialist from elementary through advanced levels, Dr. Van Weelden is in regular demand across Canada as an examiner, adjudicator, workshop clinician, and guest speaker for teacher organizations, festivals, and university pedagogy programs. Since 2007 she has taught piano and co‑taught piano pedagogy at Wilfrid Laurier University and also serves on faculty at the Beckett School at Laurier, where she mentors emerging pianists while maintaining a select private studio.

Her workshop “Music in Motion” reflects her doctoral research on the Alexander Technique, offering pianists practical tools for dynamic choreography, injury prevention, and whole‑body awareness at the keyboard. Dr. Van Weelden’s students have gone on to graduate study and careers as performers, educators, therapists, and composers, earning scholarships and top prizes at provincial and national competitions and concerto contests, and she is widely recognized for her engaging artistry and deep commitment to nurturing the next generation of pianists.

She is a form SOSI YAP teacher and performed Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals with the SOSI faculty orchestra. Deeply grateful to be part of the vibrant Kitchener-Waterloo musical community, she performs regularly in noon-hour concert series and other local events.