My name is Billy Tobenkin and I specialize in teaching adult learners how to play the cello. 

When I started learning the cello from scratch at 25, I encountered numerous issues that I had to figure out on my own and that certainly slowed my progress from what it could have been.

Let’s face it, the world of classical instruments is not exactly set up to cater to those who want to start learning seriously as adults.

We often feel like the lone 40 year old attending a high school prom. 

Sure, we’re encouraged to take up learning cello as a hobby, or as a nice retirement gift to one’s self, but what about adult learners who are serious about achieving a high level of playing? We’re implicitly (or explicitly) told that we should focus on enjoyment rather than achievement. 

Granted, I was completely obsessed with the cello and was in it to win it by my second month of lessons. My obsessiveness and relentlessness has helped me achieve serious results, and regardless of your personal goals, anyone working with me will benefit from what I’ve learned and personally experienced.

My story is not the story of musical genius laying dormant and finally bursting awake in adulthood.

I am not a ‘natural,’ I don’t have perfect pitch, and so far no aspect of cello playing has come easily to me.

But that is why my story is good for you to read.

I am here to tell you that you can learn to play the cello, I mean really play the cello, starting at any age.

And having had to fight every step of the way to get where I am now as a player, I can offer you the insight and playbook to get you where you want to go.

Growing up I played every sport I possibly could. I spent hours after school in the gym lifting weights. Varsity football, the whole thing.

Classical music was nowhere on the radar.  I assumed it was completely lame, the echo of a bygone era of starched tuxedo shirts and monocles. My world was constant piles of homework, physical competition, and parties on the weekend as my reward for stellar grades. 

The first crack in the mold came when I got to Cornell. I tried out for their 165-pound football team, and after two weeks realized that I hated getting tackled by grown men.

Then I found an unexpected passion in creative writing and literature, and by my junior year I was reading obsessively and hanging out in the library coffee shop. Like a snake I had shed my skin and left the husk of that jock laying snagged on the edge of an aisle of books. 

My interest in literature led me to classical music, which led me to the cello. For my 25th birthday I got a rental cello and one month’s worth of lessons.

By the end of that month I decided that I needed to become a real cellist no matter how much work it would take. 

Flash forward 12 years to now.

During that time I went back to school and earned a Second Bachelors in cello performance. I have been extremely fortunate to work with some of the best teachers around, including Ronald Leonard and Hans Jensen. My wife and I co-own a string quartet, Cattus Quartet, that plays everything from Bach to the Beatles to Beyonce. We also put on concerts every 3-4 months featuring bucket list repertoire I get to pick.

And I feel like my musical journey is still just getting started. Let me help you get started with yours.