Marlies van Gent was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and started playing the piano at the age of five. She received her first piano lessons from Gretha R.melingh and Sonja Jansen. She started her studies at the age of 15 at the Ro1erdam Conservatory, aGer which she studied with Jan Wijn at the Amsterdam Conservatory and with Ton Demmers at the Tilburg Conservatory, where she obtained the solo diploma. At the Utrecht Conservatory she studied chamber music and vocal accompaniment with Thom Bollen. As a follow-up to her solo diploma, she studied with Jacques de Tiège at the Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp and with Yevgenia Braginski in Brussels. She followed master classes with Ton Hartsuiker, Rudolf Jansen and the Brazilian pianist Jacques Klein.

She participated in chamber music courses in the Netherlands (Queekhoven), England (DarVngton), and in Italy (Siena). For several years she was an accompanist during the summer course of the renowned violinist Andr. Gertler and viola player Erwin Schiffer in Goslar, Germany. She accompanied violin, viola, cello, flute, saxophone, vocals and trumpet repertoire, and gave many concerts with various pianists as a quatre mains duo. She has performed on stage in Belgium, Germany, England, Poland and Portugal.

Marlies van Gent has been a piano teacher at the Young Talent School of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague since 1991 through 2024. Since 2014 she teaches young talent students of the prestigious Accademia PianisVca Imola. In addition, she regularly gives master classes in Faro, at the Maria Campina Jong Talent program.

Her main drive in teaching young talented pupils is to offer them the challenges they need to develop a career in music. Essential in her coaching is the musical, pianistic, didactical and personal support as a whole. Aspects like a safe technical basis, effective studying and stage presentation are given much attention.

Some of her alumni are Mengjie Han, Gile Bae and Nikola Meeuwsen. She is regularly invited to judge at national and international piano competions for young piano talent, such as the Steinway Competion, the Princess Christina Competion, the Maria Campina Competion (Portugal), the Concorso Pianistico San Dona di Piave and the Premio Ci1. di Imola (Italy). Since 2008 she organizes yearly the summer course of the Piano foundation Piano!Piano! for pianists aged 12 to 18. Next to teaching she is also the artistic director of this course.