Margaret Billingham » Teachers

Margaret Ruth Billingham, (she/they) Artistic Director of Madison Cello Ensemble. She has a B.A. from Lewis and Clark College, where she studied music, theater, and developmental psychology. Her principal cello teachers include Nancy Ives, Lawrence Levitan, Benjamin Whitcomb, Maggie Townsend, and Flora VanWormer. She was trained to teach the Suzuki method with Joan Krzywicki through Suzuki Strings of America. At Lewis and Clark she also trained in Alexander Technique, which helps her incorporate posture, tension release, and spine health into her teaching philosophy. She is able to assist students with some physical limitations, as her lived experience with arthritis and tendonitis led her to work with Occupational Therapist Dr Jing Y Ries who specializes in musician hand and arm health.

She has taught internationally and speaks Spanish, on the faculty as a teaching artist at Collegio Pedro Aquirre Cerda in La Serena, Chile. She was also on faculty at Grace Fine Arts Camp in Oregon, and here in Madison at Camp Begin, Madison School Community Recreation, Bayview Community Center,  Fantastic Folk Fiddle, MCE Cello Camping retreats, and Chamber Music Immersion summer day camp in collaboration with teachers from Farley’s House of Pianos. She also was on the teaching team of Music con Brio and learned a lot from Carol Carlson. Her training as a Certified Peer Specialist through UW Milwaukee’s School of Continuing Education and her minor in Developmental Psychology also informs her teaching technique by incorporating mindfulness and emotional wellness into musical education.

Margaret was born and raised in Madison, and is a West High Alumni. As such she is greatly invested in Madison’s musical culture and development. She grew up in the Suzuki tradition, and at the age of five, she began learning cello from her mother, Elizabeth Kiser. The mother/daughter duo created Madison Cello Ensemble when Margaret was eight years old, and upon her return to Madison after college they began to direct MCE together. Experiencing musical learning with an emphasis on community and family has greatly influenced how she approaches teaching through a social-emotional learning lens.

Margaret’s students excel in the community and have received multiple awards, scholarships and recognition for excellence!