Dr. Marnie Van Weelden enjoys a versatile career as a pianist, dedicated teacher, and church musician in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. She grew up in a musical family in Mississauga and received her undergraduate degree from Western University studying with Gwen Beamish. She completed both her 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 teachers during her time there were Louis Nagel and Logan Skelton. Since 2007 she has been teaching piano and piano pedagogy at Wilfrid Laurier University. She is an active performer in her musical community playing as a solo and collaborative pianist and in her piano duo, Blondes on 88, with pianist Rebekah Jordan-Miller. She performs in the Laurier Noon Concert series, First United Noon Concert series, Laurier Academy of Music & Arts Faculty concerts, Love of Music Marathon, Open Ears Festival of new music, the Registry Theatre and the Jazz Room. She has been a frequent faculty member in the SOSI Young Artist Program in August in Waterloo, where she was delighted to perform Carnival of the Animals with the SOSI Faculty Orchestra.

She strives to pursuing a meaningful connection between teaching, performing, and community engagement. She is currently serving as President for the KW-ORMTA branch and is passionate about pursuing excellence in teaching through networking opportunities, professional development, and recitals with her teaching colleagues in the community. She is a member of the College of Examiners of the Royal Conservatory and is in demand as a festival adjudicator and clinician. Her workshop, entitled Music in Motion, helps to equip pianists with a fresh approach to piano playing involving dynamic choreography and increased body awareness that can help with injury prevention. She knew from an early age that teaching piano would be a lifelong pursuit and passion. During her 30 year teaching journey, Dr. Van Weelden has had the privilege to work with all ages and levels and thinks that teaching piano is the best job in the world! In addition to being a pianist she also loves to sing, but mostly enjoys spending time with her husband and three teens!