Laurie graduated from the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree.  She also earned the equivalency of a music therapy degree from the College of Mount St. Joseph, in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Later, Lesley University’s wonderfully creative graduate program, Integrated Teaching through the Arts, provided the avenue through which she completed her Masters of Education.  Laurie is certified to teach Musikgarten, has achieved Level I in Kodály, and Levels I and II in Orff-Schulwerk.  She has been a member of the Atlanta Area Orff-Schulwerk Chapter ever since moving to Atlanta, served on its board for many years, and was on the planning committee when Atlanta hosted the AOSA National Conference. 

She taught music in the Cobb County School System for 35 years, spending the majority of her time at the elementary level.  During that time, she was selected as Teacher of the Year by her peers.  Recently retired, she is excited to have the opportunity (and the time) to teach Musikgarten!

Laurie lives with her husband, Kurt, and their parrot, Wheezer, who sounds like Ethel Merman when he sings.  Wheezer is presently learning to sing Musikgarten’s tonal patterns, Set One, and loves to improvise musical questions and answers.

Laurie Zarin is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and moved to Atlanta with hopes of basking in the warm southern sunshine and delightfully pleasant temperatures that her sister-in-law promised she would enjoy, even in the dead of winter.  Arriving in January and finding the weather a good bit colder than she’d anticipated, she immediately invested in a down comforter and jacket, which she still uses to this very day.  Really!  (Her husband secretly wishes she would bite the bullet and throw out that old comforter already).