Education
Maxfield holds performance degrees from Indiana University (BM) where he studied cello with Sharon Robinson and the University of Wisconsin (MM) with Uri Vardi.
Other important teachers of his have included Peter Howard (former principal cellist of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra), Jorja Fleezanis (former concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra), Atar Arad (former Cleveland Quartet), and Sally Gross (choreographer). Maxfield received his Suzuki teacher training with Tanya Carey and Alice Ann O’Neill.
Performance and Teaching Experience
Maxfield Wollam-Fisher is a cellist, educator, and producer. As a musician who revels in versatility, Maxfield enjoys collaborating in every genre from the traditional to avant garde, folk to pop. In the last year, he released an album of contemporary tango commissions from eight composers with his duo Arco & Aire, a solo EP titled “Max. Cello. Tango.” and a series of singles with his folk band The Timber Bridges. In performance, he could be found on Becky G and Nubya Garcia’s NPR Tiny Desk Concerts, Miss Lauryn Hill’s concert at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, at Tanglewood with Palaver Strings, and with a variety of tango ensembles in Argentina and around the United States.
As a tango musician for nearly fifteen years, Maxfield has performed with the likes of Julian Peralta, Ramiro Boero, Stratos Achlatis, Victor LaVallen, Pablo Zeigler and many others. Over this time he directed a number of projects including the Da Capo Tango Orchestra, Orquesta Tipica Loca, and the Mad City Live Tango Festival. Along with presenting workshops for both tango musicians and dancers, Maxfield is an advocate for cello and contemporary tango and recently released an EP titled Max. Tango. Cello. featuring a series of his own tango arrangements for solo cello recorded at Studio Doctor F. in Buenos Aires. In recent years, Maxfield works with bandoneonist Heyni Solera in their duo Arco y Aire. Their recording of “La Bordona” won Best Latin Song at the 2022 Wammie awards and their album of new commissions from contemporary tango composers, Una Noche Entre Sueños, was released in the summer of 2024. Since 2018, Maxfield has co-hosted “Bienvenido al Tango” with Phil Jones on Takoma Radio 94.3 FM in Takoma Park, Maryland. Since 2014, Maxfield has also been a director and faculty member of the Tanguero Workshop, now called the CU Tango Music Workshop.
As a chamber and interdisciplinary performer, Maxfield has worked with postmodern choreographer Sally Gross of the Judson Dance Project, Klezmer musician Michael Alpert, opera singer Sylvia McNair, IN Series Opera Company, and arrangement and music direction of the Rite of Spring with Li Chiao-Ping Dance Company.
At Levine
Maxfield joined Levine in 2017 and teaches in the Suzuki and Strings departments. Maxfield served as associate chair of the strings department from 2019-2015 and director of competitions from 2021-2025.
Currently, along with his large teaching studio, Maxfield directs the Levine Tango Orchestra, Levine Chamber Music Seminar, teaches Suzuki group classes, and is the Levine Librarian.
Maxfield is an enthusiastic member of the Levine community hosting workshops, concerts, and events. He enjoys teaching strings camp every summer and loves how Levine serves as a coming-together point for musicians around the area to learn and perform together.
Teaching Philosophy
Maxfield has over 15 years of teaching experience in private lessons, chamber music, and ensembles. He shares his love of music as a method for connecting deeply with others with his students who can be found around the DMV in youth symphonies, chamber programs, theater and opera performances, garage bands, and major classical stages.
“Each of my teachers left me with different but important approaches to teaching. Whether it is work with different body-awareness modalities, resources from decades of teaching younger children, or an understanding of the details and mindset for crafting a finished performance onstage in front of thousands of people, I am honored to be able to pass down ideas and traditions from generations of cellists and am always exploring new ways to teach, play, and communicate with each individual student.”
More About Maxfield
In DC, whenever he is not teaching, rehearsing, dancing tango, sight-reading Dvorak quartets, or walking his miniature poodle, Maxfield enjoys getting out doors, eating seafood, and jamming with musicians from new genres.