Our Mission
Madison Cello Ensemble creates opportunities for all cellists to flourish. MCE is a place where cellists of all backgrounds, abilities and ages thrive!
Now Enrolling New Students!
- Ensembles
- Private Lessons
- Summer Camps
- Special Events & Performances
- Music Therapy & Soundbaths
Contact Us Today!
608-513-4763
madisoncelloensemble@gmail.com
Our APPROACH
High Quality Lessons, Ensembles & Professional Music Studios
A Modern Approach to the Cello
The Madison Cello Ensemble recognizes the rich and diverse traditions of cello pedagogy. We celebrate the love of the cello, offering area cellists the opportunity to flourish. MCE is committed to the highest quality of opportunities for cellists and cello instruction. Integrating Suzuki’s philosophy and methods with the exciting emergence of cello ensembles and improvisation as an essential component of cello instruction both traditional and contemporary experiences are offered. Accessible, non-competitive ensembles, mindful teaching, collaboration between instructors and families, and community service are core values of our program.
The Madison Cello Ensemble and our group repertoire classes are a noncompetitive collective, welcoming students from area studios and school programs.
Our early cello group class programs are rooted in the Suzuki method and its repertoire. As students grow, they develop into chamber players having the option to join the Madison Cello Ensembles and ensembles with collaborating studios.
Group classes, alongside private instruction, are an essential component of a cellist’s education. Students are strongly encouraged to be in both private lessons and groups at their experience level. Masterclasses, play-ins, guest teaching artists, rigorous rehearsal, on-line coaching opportunities, community service, retreats, workshops and performances are integral to our curriculum.
In addition to traditional conservatory training and extensive training in the Suzuki method, our Madison Cello Ensemble teachers also seek to glean material from the most contemporary cello approaches. The Cello Ensembles and group repertoire classes are non-completive, welcoming students from area studios and school programs. We believe music makes a difference in our well-being and thus commit to music-based mindfulness and community outreach through music service. We offer annual Scholarships to young cellists from underserved communities.
Features
The Madison Cello Ensemble Embraces the Suzuki Method
Early Beginning
The early years are crucial for developing mental processes and muscle coordination. Listening to music should begin at birth; formal training may begin at age three or four, but it is never too late to begin.
Encouragement
As with language, the child’s effort to learn an instrument should be met with sincere praise and encouragement. Each child learns at their own rate, building on small steps so that each one can be mastered. Children are also encouraged to support each other’s efforts, fostering an attitude of generosity and cooperation.
Repetiton
Constant repetition is essential in learning to play an instrument. Children do not learn a word or piece of music and then discard it. They add it to their vocabulary or repertoire, gradually using it in new and more sophisticated ways.
Parent Involvement
As when a child learns to talk, parents are involved in the musical learning of their child. They can attend lessons with the child and serve as “home teachers” during the week. Parents work with the teacher to create an enjoyable learning environment.
Learning with Other Children
In addition to private lessons, children participate in regular group lessons and performance at which they learn from and are motivated by each other.
Graded Repertoire
Children do not practice exercises to learn to talk, but use language for its natural purpose of communication and self-expression. Pieces in the Suzuki repertoire are designed to present technical problems to be learned in the context of the music rather than through dry technical exercises.
Expert Intsructors
Meet Our Teaching Team
MCE Teachers collaborate to ensure each student is matched with the best possible fit for their learning style and musical needs! MCE teachers are flexible and support each others studios, coaching, consulting and teaming to offer each student the individualized instruction they deserve.
Elizabeth Kiser
Founder, Director, Instructor
Beth Kiser (she/her/hers) is a music therapist, educator, and school psychologist as well as a proud Suzuki mom. Currently Beth is excited to be working as a Teaching Artist through the Overture Center leading “Music and Mindfulness Imagination Vacations” and teaching cello to students ages 4-74! Leading the Madison Cello Ensemble, offering music therapy and performing with Wellspring Sound Arts Collective are three of her most joy filled jobs. The opportunity to bring new cello students, who may may not have access to music lessons into the Madison Cello Ensemble is beyond fulfilling!
Some of Beth’s earliest memories are playing cello in nursing homes with her grandmother accompanying, and listening to her sister’s violin lessons at the American Suzuki Institute. While still in high school, Beth was teaching assistant for the first Suzuki cello groups held there in the 1970’s.
Beth studied cello and pedagogy with Kathleen Franceski, Wolfgang Laufer and Gerald Fishbach as an undergraduate and pursued her masters in string pedagogy at UW-Madison. Beth is passionate about cello ensembles and using music as a tool for wellness. Students from her studio have been recognized for their dedication to community service through music, zest-filled performances and fierce passionate technical playing. Beth’s cello students continue to inspire her and are now teaching and performing throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, but many return home annually for the 30 year tradition of a Solstice Cello Celebration! Beth delights in the accomplishments of her students as empathic creative musicians and community members who use music to bring joy and wellness into their lives and to others. Beth is most proud of the community built within the MCE studios, and to be collaborating with her cellist daughter Margaret.
Margaret Billingham
Associate Director, Cello Instructor
Margaret Ruth Billingham, (she/they /them) artistic director of Madison Cello Ensemble, joined Suzuki Strings of Madison teaching cooperative in 2021. As a passionate chamber musician and coach, she is excited to see how string ensembles will blossom under the collaboration. Born and raised in Madison, she grew up in the Madison Suzuki tradition, listening to her older sister’s violin lessons with SSM founder Diana Popowycz, and taking violin lessons with SSM founder Maria-Rosa Germain. 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 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. At L&C she also trained in Alexander Technique. She has been on the faculty as a teaching artist at Collegio Pedro Aquirre Cerda in Chile, Grace Fine Arts Camp in Oregon, and here in Madison at Camp Begin, Madison School Community Recreation, Bayview Community Center, and Fantastic Folk Fiddle. She also was invited to joinethe teaching team of Music con Brio. Her training as a Certified Peer Specialist through UW Milwaukee’s School of Continuing Education also informs her teaching technique by incorporating mindfulness and emotional wellness into musical education. Margaret’s students excel in the community and have received multiple awards, scholarships and recognition for excellence!
Flora van Wormer
Cello Instructor
Flora van Wormer (she/her/hers) is a cello teacher with the Madison Cello Ensemble.
Why Choose Us
Customized Instruction For Every Student
We work with each student and get them a customized learning program that will guide them on the right path to maximize their potential and abilities. Each student and their family is recognized as unique, differences are valued and needs are accommodated.
Testimonials
What People Are Saying
“Our teen has learned so much more than music… the MCE community nurtures the whole child while developing excellent musicianship. We will be forever grateful for the opportunities and doors that opened for our daughter through MCE!”
“MCE students are the most musical and motivated. MCE is a place where cellists of all abilities and ages thrive!”
“MCE has been great for our son. Their fantastic instructors bring energy, excitement & technical skills to every lesson.”
“The community, the community “MCE is the best cello studio in WI. My experience with MCE not only inpsired me to be a lifelong cellist but shaped my life in so many positive ways”
“I’m learning so fast it’s so incredible what the team at MCE can do! I’d always dreamed of playing an instrument and in less than two years I’ve become proficient and enjoy playing for myself and with others!”
“I love to howl with the cellos! Whether it’s Popper Etudes or The Swan, guarantied I’ll sing along! Arrrroooooo”
Our Partners
