Born and raised in Salem, NJ and having grown up in a family full of musicians, Marlayna is no stranger to what it takes to become a solid instrumentalist. With all of its varying benefits, Marlayna has enjoyed what learning the piano has had to offer. Her journey with the piano began at 5 years old and continued for the next 11 years thereafter. She has had four different piano teachers and her training has largely been classical focused. She has learned how to both read music as well as play by ear. She began writing her own songs at 12 years old and took a liking to Jazz styles and progressions. She is well-acquainted with artistic performance as a whole after having taken dance lessons for 13 years learning Ballet, Modern, Jazz and Tap. She continued her education at Rider University and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Theater and French. Her French studies took her abroad to Université Catholique de l’Ouest in Angers, France.

Her teaching journey began in 2017 where she began giving private piano lessons to a few members of her church. During this time she also began teaching liturgical dance to children ages ranging from 5 to 10 years old. In 2018, she released “PianoSpeak” which are original piano compositions that anyone can enjoy who desires to “press pause” in their life and refocus. PianoSpeak has been used for meditation, prayer, thinking, healing and creating soothing and quiet atmospheres. In May of 2020, she began to take her experience and joy of playing the piano and her love of teaching children, and started PianoSpeak Academy. She officially began operating under PianoSpeak Academy in August of 2020 with the desire of helping kids destroy self-doubt and build confidence by learning to play the piano. She has a certificate in Teaching Elementary Piano from The Royal Conservatory of Music.