Jenna Braaksma

Contact Information

Professional/Academic Experience

Dr. Jenna Braaksma currently serves as Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado, where she teaches graduate collaborative piano lessons, undergraduate class piano, and both undergraduate and graduate piano pedagogy courses. She also advises graduate assistants and serves as a collaborative pianist for faculty performances and guest artist recitals across campus.

A dedicated and dynamic educator, Dr. Braaksma brings a wealth of experience from applied studios, secondary schools, and higher education institutions. Prior to her appointment at UNC, she served as Class Piano Coordinator and Instructor in the Piano Pedagogy Laboratory Program (PPLP) at the University of Michigan. She has also held faculty positions at Buena Vista University and Dordt University in Northwest Iowa.

An active collaborative pianist, adjudicator, and researcher, Dr. Braaksma regularly presents at regional, state, and national music conferences. Her research lies at the intersection of collaborative piano and pedagogy, with a particular focus on developing resources for collaborative piano instruction. Additional research interests include functional piano skills for classroom music educators and the role of visuo-motor coordination in sight-reading development. Her work has been published in American Music Teacher, the MTNA e-journal, the Iowa Music Educator Magazine, the ArkMEA e-journal, and the National Center for Keyboard Pedagogy Conference Proceedings.

As a collaborative artist, Dr. Braaksma has performed extensively with vocalists, instrumentalists, and choral ensembles. Her collaborations also include nationally recognized collegiate choirs from Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, and Florida State University. An experienced choral musician herself, she has toured with ensembles across the United States and internationally to South Korea, Austria, Hungary, China, France, Ireland, Spain, Scotland, and England.

Dr. Braaksma holds a PhD in Music Education with an emphasis in Piano Pedagogy from Florida State University, dual Master’s degrees in Collaborative Piano and Piano Pedagogy from the University of Missouri, and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Iowa State University.