Wilda Gene Marcus Piano Scholarship
Wilda "Gene" Marcus was born in 1927 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Marcus was a lifelong piano teacher and arts patron. She graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington with a Bachelor of Music in piano performance with Honors in 1950, and a Masters of Music in piano performance with Distinction in 1951.
After graduating, Marcus worked as a public school music teacher, and as a professor of piano at Indiana University — Purdue University Fort Wayne from 1968 to 1986. Throughout her 60-year career, Marcus taught hundreds of piano students, accompanied soloists, and played piano in various ensembles.
Marcus was involved with Morning Musical Society, and was a pianist and music director at the Fort Wayne Civic Theater. She also served as president of Northeast Indiana Music Teachers Association, was a member of Sigma Alpha Iota, and a frequent patron of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. The Indiana Music Teachers Association awarded her Teacher of the Year Award in 1994.
Established in 2006, the Jacobs School of Music is proud to award the annual Wilda Gene Marcus Piano Scholarship to undergraduate and graduate piano majors.