Margaret Cording Petty divides her time between cello performance and musical composition, writing especially for cello and strings. She plays professionally with the Salisbury Symphony, regional orchestras, and for solo, chamber and theater venues. Her cello studies, begun as a child through school music, continued with Marijane Siegal (Chicago), Allen Harris (Rochester NY), and Leslies Parnas (Boston). In addition to numerous recitals, she has performed concertos with orchestras (Bloch’s Schelomo, Haydn D Major and Boccherini B-flat concertos), and played in various festivals (Spoleto, Italy). Earning a Master of Music in cello performance at Boston University, she taught strings and then music theory for the university as she pursued doctoral studies in music composition.
Before coming to Greensboro, she resided for thirty years near Chantilly, France, where, as a college teacher, she directed college and regional choirs, taught music theory and hymnology, and contributed scholarly articles in musicology to European publications. Continuing to perform and teach cello, she played in orchestras in Senlis and Paris.
Margaret earned a Ph.D. in musicology from the Université de Paris IV-Sorbonne. Her undergraduate degree, in Music Education, is from Wheaton College, IL.