Forming
Classical Pianists

Jeanne Hanley Thelen, pianist and pedagogue, owns and operates the Hanley Music Studio in northwest Livonia. In addition to being an adjudicator, lecturer, and performer throughout the state, Ms. Thelen’s students have been top prize winners in local, regional, and state competitions. Ms. Thelen was named Teacher of the Year by the Piano Teachers’ Forum of Grand Rapids (PTFGR) in 2014. She is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, Michigan Music Teachers Association (MMTA), the Livonia Area Piano Teachers Forum, the Metropolitan Detroit Musicians League, The National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC), and NFMC Senior Club Camerata. Ms. Thelen is a state-certified teacher of the Music Teachers’ National Association (MTNA) for the state of Michigan. She served on the MMTA state board as Local Associations Chair, IMTF chair, and Western Division Semi-finals chair. At the local level Ms. Thelen served as vice-president, president, and first past-president of the Piano Teachers’ Forum of Grand Rapids (PTFGR).. Ms. Thelen served as artist-faculty at the Illinois Summer Youth Music Program Piano Camp at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) from 2012 to 2016. While serving as music coordinator of the Stella Royce Music Program, Ms. Thelen founded and directed the Stella Royce Piano Camp at St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids. She served as the artistic director of the Stella Royce Piano Camp from 2007 to 2012. In 2016, Ms. Thelen served as a clinician at the Gilmore Festival KeysFest. Ms. Thelen earned her master of music in piano pedagogy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studied piano pedagogy under Dr. Reid Alexander and Dr. Christos Tsitsaros. Her principal piano professor was Dr. William Heiles. While earning her master’s degree, Ms. Thelen taught group and individual piano lessons at UIUC. As a graduate teaching assistant in group piano, she was named to the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students for four consecutive semesters. Ms. Thelen re-instated the University of Illinois collegiate MTNA chapter. As president of the UIUC MTNA chapter, Ms. Thelen founded the University of Illinois Music Club for children in 2005. Currently, Ms Thelen serves as the Vice-President of the Metropolitan Detroit Musicians League.