Bio

Jenni Sonstroem has been teaching music in North Carolina since 1999. Mrs. Sonstroem graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Piano Performance. After graduation, she traveled to Mali, West Africa, to study the djembe and balafon with Malian master musicians. She has been fortunate to travel to five continents. She began her teaching career at Rainbow Mountain Children's School in Asheville, NC and was an active jazz musician, performing regularly at the Biltmore Inn, the Grove Park Inn, and touring with other musicians on the east coast and southeastern US. She earned her Master of Music in Jazz Piano Performance and teaching certification from East Carolina University. Jenni taught middle and primary school general music in Greenville, NC before moving to Wake County in 2008 to establish the music program at Laurel Park Elementary School in Apex. She moved to Apex Friendship Elementary when it opened in 2022. She is certified in World Music Drumming and received her National Board Certification in Early and Middle Childhood vocal music in 2009. Jenni has been awarded numerous grants including a Bright Ideas grant for her school's Yamaha Music in Education (MIE) piano keyboard lab in 2012 and began piloting the Quaver Music digital curriculum in 2014. Quaver Ed is now in over 18,000 schools across the globe. Jenni is a music advocate for her students and colleagues. She has served as a United Arts Council and school Leadership Team representative. Jenni has facilitated numerous music workshops ranging from Marketing and Fundraising to Quaver Music curriculum. During the 2020-21 school year, Jenni collaborated with Wake County music colleagues and the Quaver Team to develop an aligned curriculum pacing guide for the district. She continues to work on music projects with Quaver Ed, based in Nashville, TN. Jenni was selected as one of four curriculum authors for the North Carolina Symphony Education Concert in 2015 and 2021. Her schools have been featured in Wake County Public Schools social media outlets, the Raleigh News and Observer, WNCN's "Cool School of the Day," and PBS/UNC-TV's "North Carolina Now." Her classroom was featured in Quaver Ed Teacher Voices article, "Building a Bridge to Learning and Discovery," written by Kristin Clark Taylor (former White House and current USA Today journalist) in September 2021. When Jenni is not teaching, she loves to travel and enjoy local culture with her husband and their twins.