Lauren Kooistra is Associate Director and Research Associate of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at The Pennsylvania State University. She holds degrees in Piano Performance (B.M.), Piano Performance and Pedagogy (M.M.), and Music Education (Ph.D.), and has continuously kept a piano teaching studio for students of many ages. Her research focuses on the nature of young children’s learning and musical development, particularly within individualized settings involving the piano. She is interested in the ways that children enact their personal musicianship, and her scholarship has been internationally published and presented. At Penn State she has been an instructor in the Music department, and has continued her piano learning by collaborating on many Voice and Choral department projects.