Born in Munich, Merkt first studied opera singing and later music for the teaching profession at grammar schools at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.
[3] From 1979 to 1989, Merkt was an academic councillor at the University of Dortmund in the field of music education for disabled people.
[4] She is co-initiator and juror of the InTakt promotional prize of the miriam foundation in Dortmund.
[5] The project Dortmund Model: Music, funded by the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, is developing new structures of musical education for adults with disabilities and for inclusive artistic ensembles between 2010 and 2013.
[6][7] Merkt has a leadership function in the "Network Culture and Inclusion",[8] which as a dialogue and expert forum represents one of the measures mentioned in the Federal Government's Action Plan 2.0 for the implementation of the UN Disability Rights Convention[9] Established in 2015 and funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), the network reflects on previous approaches to the participation of persons with disabilities in cultural life and makes recommendations for a diverse and actively shaping access of persons with impairments to the cultural landscape.