Marlene Markard

Marlene Markard is a music educator, education innovator, program and curriculum developer, education advocate, arts administrator, and entrepreneur.  She holds a Graduate Certificate in Music Education and Autism from Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music.  Upon graduation, Marlene was invited to serve as a Post-Graduate Fellow at the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education (BIAAE) (formerly the Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs).  She received her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she served as the Senior Managing Editor of the Cardozo Women's law Journal.  Marlene earned her B.A., cum laude, in Music and English Literature from Barnard College and her Music Certificate from the Mannes College of Music Pre-College Division, where she studied piano performance with Arkady Aronov.  Other teachers have included:  Dalia Sakas, Jane Carlson, Solomon Mikowsky, and Blanche Abram.  Marlene is currently pursuing her M.M.Ed. (Autism Concentration) at the Berklee College of Music, where she is serving as a Graduate Assistant for the 2022-23 school  year.  

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Marlene splits her time between the East End of Long Island and Boston.  Since 2014, Marlene has owned and operated Markard Music, a private music studio that offers early childhood music classes, summer music camps, and private piano lessons to students of all ages, levels, and abilities on the East End.  She previously served on the faculties of the East End Arts School, Southampton Cultural Center, and Children’s Museum of the East End.  

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In the Greater Boston area, Marlene serves as the Director of the Beethoven Ensemble and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Specialist at the Boston Music Project, which was recognized by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) as one of the top 98 music programs nationwide.  In her role as SEL Specialist, Marlene co-authored a universally designed 36-week SEL-informed music curriculum for K-6 students.  She is a member of the faculty at the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education, where she teaches general music and piano to students with a wide range of exceptionalities, and also serves as member of the BIAAE's administrative staff, in charge of program and curriculum development initiatives.  In this role, Marlene has been responsible for creating numerous programs, including a Music History class, for which she has co-developed a 12-week curriculum. She also serves as a faculty mentor, and develops and teaches Career Readiness workshops to students in the Nurturing Leaders Program.  In 2021, Marlene led a team of BIAAE educators to create a two-year and a four-year music curriculum for musically talented, high-school and college-aged students with low-support needs at the Southwest Florida Music Education Center in Naples, Florida.  In addition, Marlene serves as a piano instructor and Director of the Westwood Prodigy Program, and after-school music program serving more than 300 students.   

Marlene has presented her work at various arts education conferences, including the ABLE Assembly at the BIAAE, the Massachusetts Music Educators Association, and the Massachusetts Department of Secondary and Elementary Education.  Marlene actively provides professional development workshops and seminars for educators.  Her concentrations are differentiated instruction, Universal Design for Learning, SEL-informed music education, and gifted and twice-exceptional students.  Since 2019, Marlene has also taught the gifted education class in Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music's Music Education and Autism graduate program. ​