About Jeanne Marie

My approach to teaching has been influenced by a lifetime of music study and performance, along with the experience of having four daughters enrolled in music lessons.

I began piano lessons at age six as a normal student who didn’t always like to practice. In middle school I became the school choir accompanist and accompanied students for solo and ensemble. Teaching piano lessons in early high school inspired me to pursue teaching as a lifelong career.

Along the way I earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance (Summa Cum Laude) from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, where I also studied organ and harpsichord and spent three years as a music theory assistant. I then moved to Ann Arbor and completed a Master’s Degree with dual concentrations in Piano Pedagogy (how to teach piano) and Organ Performance (Summa Cum Laude 4.0) at Eastern Michigan University. As a graduate assistant I taught class piano and private piano lessons, and I completed certification in Kindermusik, a program for preschoolers.

As a full time professional musician, I have always combined teaching with accompanying, playing for recitals, auditions, school concerts, and other special events. As a church musician, I also have extensive experience in playing for weddings and funerals, directing vocal and handbell choirs, and handling the administrative aspects of music programs.

I enjoy the variety and challenges of teaching students of all ages and abilities. Most of the students I’ve taught over the years played the piano simply as an important part of a well rounded education and for personal enjoyment. Many have enjoyed music study that has gone at their own pace to adapt to learning disabilities or various neurological and developmental struggles. Some of my students have gone on to complete music degrees such as piano, organ, flute, voice, composition, and cello. Hopefully all have learned an appreciation of music, grown in character and discipline, and gained a great deal of satisfaction through the joy of playing music.

Why “Bluebird” Piano Studio? I grew up on over 50 acres of farmland in rural Indiana. Eastern Bluebirds would sometimes spend the summer there, so my parents built many nesting boxes for them. Watching for the bluebirds to arrive and nest, waiting for the eggs to hatch, visiting the baby bluebirds and feeding them mealworms became a unique family tradition.