Mari Schay

Mari Schay is the general music editor for Heritage Music Press, including Activate OnDemand and books that support elementary music teachers with curriculum, classroom management, and professional development. Since 2011, she has written hundreds of Activate articles and many books including Managed to a Moment, Recorder Monster, Behind Bars, and Listen Sing Rattle Ding. In 2025, she released a textbook for elementary music teaching called Making Music in the Elementary School: A Guide to Who, How, What, and Why We Teach through GIA. In addition to her work with HMP, Mari is Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of Music Education at Portland State University where she teaches a variety of music education courses. Prior to joining the faculty at PSU, Mari taught elementary and middle school music for 23 years. Mari has degrees in music education and percussion performance from Willamette University and Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Whether she is teaching future teachers or supporting in-service teachers, Mari is passionate about building strong elementary music programs so that all students benefit from everything music has to offer.