MARGERET SELBY
is the orchestra director and 2020-21 Teacher of the Year at Laing Middle School in Charleston, SC. Mrs. Selby’s orchestras have participated in SCMEA Concert Performance Assessment and other festivals in the southeast, earning superior ratings. The Laing Advanced 8th Grade Orchestra was invited to perform at the 2026 SCMEA Conference.
Mrs. Selby is a coauthor of the Habits of a Successful Young String Musician, a beginner method book (GIA), and is a contributing author of Rehearsing the Middle School Orchestra, published by Meredith Music and distributed by GIA. She was the 2022 Featured Clinician for the Orchestra Division of the Texas Music Educators Association.
She has been a guest conductor for the Interlochen Arts Camp, All-State Orchestras in Florida, Georgia, West Virginia, and multiple regional and honor orchestras from Texas to Virginia. Ms. Selby has presented sessions for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, national ASTA conferences, the Texas Orchestra Directors Association, and state music educator conferences in Ohio, New Mexico, Georgia, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Florida and Iowa. She has adjudicated orchestras at the National Orchestra Festival and has been a clinician for the Ohio State String Teacher Workshop, Arizona ASTA Fall Workshop, and the Habits Universal Summer Institute. She served as the President for the SCMEA Orchestra Division and is currently the SCMEA Orchestra Division Region 4 Representative. Mrs. Selby is the 2017-18 String Educator of the Year awarded by Southern String Supply.
Mrs. Selby earned degrees in Music Education and Cello Performance from the University of South Carolina, studying under Dr. Robert Jesselson, and has performed with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Charleston Symphony, and regularly as a freelance cellist. She is also a registered Suzuki cello teacher. Mrs. Selby lives in Mt. Pleasant, SC with her husband, Chris, who is an amazing orchestra director, and they have two great kids. She enjoys running and sampling Charleston’s many amazing restaurants.
