About Niki Weidner, M.Ed.
Hi, I'm Niki! I'm a native of Cincinnati and began my music teaching career during my college freshman summer in my parents' living room near Deer Park. This later led to opportunities to be a student private teacher at IWU Music Academy, then to a faculty member position at the Cincinnati School of Music, where I taught nearly 100 students throughout my time there. I opened NW Music Studio in May 2020 with just two online students (now Evergreen Music School, LLC), and I now see an average of 60 students per week for lessons during the school year!
NWMS/Evergreen has earned the 2021 Cincy Magazine Greater Cinti Family Choice Award for "Best Musical Instrument Lessons," and named a finalist in Cincy Magazine's 2022 Best of the North and 2022 & 2023 Greater Cinti Family Choice Awards. As of June 2023, Evergreen is also an approved music lessons provider for the Ohio Afterschool Child Enrichment (ACE) grant program.
I earned my Master of Education with High Distinction Honors from Liberty University, my Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Music as a Distinguished Scholar from Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), and graduated high school from Christian Home Educators of Cincinnati (CHEC). A highlight of my collegiate music career was studying music therapy and education abroad in Jamaica with The State University of New York-Potsdam (SUNY). Prior to transferring to IWU, I studied worship leadership and commercial music at Anderson University (AU).
I'm a multi-award-winning musician and music teacher, and began studying music formally at 6 years old. Wanting to learn the piano just like my Nana, my parents enrolled me in piano lessons with Terry Granick for 6 years. I earned numerous honors in Royal Conservatory of Music exams, superior ratings six years in a row and Honors recipient (top scorer in my level) twice at OMTA Auditions Festivals, and performed multiple times in OMTA honors events, as well as a Keyboard Club of Cincinnati solo recital. Since graduating college, I've been a substitute piano accompanist for several local churches as opportunities arise.
I began learning guitar at age 12 with Phil Pike (acoustic/worship/pop), then with Bruce Helgeson (jazz) and Dr. Michael Walter (classical) throughout my undergraduate studies. I was the student worship leader of my church's youth ministry during high school and the AU Women's Ministry. My instrumental emphasis in college was classical guitar, where I held positions in IWU Early Music Ensemble (classical guitar) and IWU Guitar Ensemble (rotating chairs I/II). I've most recently been a member of the Greater Cincinnati Guitar Society Bravo Ensemble (classical guitar).
I took trombone lessons from Phil Pike and Jim Yost in high school. I was heavily invested in my trombone studies throughout high school, which led me to opportunities including Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (ass't principal trombone), AU Wind Symphony (principal trombone), IWU Early Music Ensemble (sackbut), and an invitation to study at the highly selective and prestigious Boston University Tanglewood Institute Summer Trombone Intensive. I was a trombonist in UC Community Band in recent years since graduating college.
I stay busy outside of teaching and running the School! I'm a member of MTNA, GCGS, Keyboard Club of Cincinnati, and OhioMTA, and serve on the OhioMTA Southwest District board as the Vice President of Communications. I play trombone in Wyoming Winds community band, serve on the Norwood Church worship team as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, and study cello under Katrina Aguiar. I also enjoy being a barista at the volunteer-run Norwood Coffee, writing posts for my new blog Holistic Music Teacher, taking on occasional digital marketing projects for local businesses and non-profits, and sewing scrunchies for Dress A Girl Around the World Cincinnati Chapter.
In my down time, I enjoy a wide variety of things, including swimming, watching sports (especially golf, football, and tennis), collecting old hymnals, reading (mostly feel-good fiction and psychology/human behavior books), going to museums, doing arts classes, photography, and videography. I also enjoy writing and recording my own indie folk/rock, jazz, and worship songs and composing piano music. Other instruments I play include ukulele, world percussion (trained in West African and Jamaican), alto saxophone, mountain dulcimer, and handbells...and hope to learn even more instruments throughout my life.
NWMS/Evergreen has earned the 2021 Cincy Magazine Greater Cinti Family Choice Award for "Best Musical Instrument Lessons," and named a finalist in Cincy Magazine's 2022 Best of the North and 2022 & 2023 Greater Cinti Family Choice Awards. As of June 2023, Evergreen is also an approved music lessons provider for the Ohio Afterschool Child Enrichment (ACE) grant program.
I earned my Master of Education with High Distinction Honors from Liberty University, my Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Music as a Distinguished Scholar from Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), and graduated high school from Christian Home Educators of Cincinnati (CHEC). A highlight of my collegiate music career was studying music therapy and education abroad in Jamaica with The State University of New York-Potsdam (SUNY). Prior to transferring to IWU, I studied worship leadership and commercial music at Anderson University (AU).
I'm a multi-award-winning musician and music teacher, and began studying music formally at 6 years old. Wanting to learn the piano just like my Nana, my parents enrolled me in piano lessons with Terry Granick for 6 years. I earned numerous honors in Royal Conservatory of Music exams, superior ratings six years in a row and Honors recipient (top scorer in my level) twice at OMTA Auditions Festivals, and performed multiple times in OMTA honors events, as well as a Keyboard Club of Cincinnati solo recital. Since graduating college, I've been a substitute piano accompanist for several local churches as opportunities arise.
I began learning guitar at age 12 with Phil Pike (acoustic/worship/pop), then with Bruce Helgeson (jazz) and Dr. Michael Walter (classical) throughout my undergraduate studies. I was the student worship leader of my church's youth ministry during high school and the AU Women's Ministry. My instrumental emphasis in college was classical guitar, where I held positions in IWU Early Music Ensemble (classical guitar) and IWU Guitar Ensemble (rotating chairs I/II). I've most recently been a member of the Greater Cincinnati Guitar Society Bravo Ensemble (classical guitar).
I took trombone lessons from Phil Pike and Jim Yost in high school. I was heavily invested in my trombone studies throughout high school, which led me to opportunities including Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (ass't principal trombone), AU Wind Symphony (principal trombone), IWU Early Music Ensemble (sackbut), and an invitation to study at the highly selective and prestigious Boston University Tanglewood Institute Summer Trombone Intensive. I was a trombonist in UC Community Band in recent years since graduating college.
I stay busy outside of teaching and running the School! I'm a member of MTNA, GCGS, Keyboard Club of Cincinnati, and OhioMTA, and serve on the OhioMTA Southwest District board as the Vice President of Communications. I play trombone in Wyoming Winds community band, serve on the Norwood Church worship team as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, and study cello under Katrina Aguiar. I also enjoy being a barista at the volunteer-run Norwood Coffee, writing posts for my new blog Holistic Music Teacher, taking on occasional digital marketing projects for local businesses and non-profits, and sewing scrunchies for Dress A Girl Around the World Cincinnati Chapter.
In my down time, I enjoy a wide variety of things, including swimming, watching sports (especially golf, football, and tennis), collecting old hymnals, reading (mostly feel-good fiction and psychology/human behavior books), going to museums, doing arts classes, photography, and videography. I also enjoy writing and recording my own indie folk/rock, jazz, and worship songs and composing piano music. Other instruments I play include ukulele, world percussion (trained in West African and Jamaican), alto saxophone, mountain dulcimer, and handbells...and hope to learn even more instruments throughout my life.
