Taylor Jensen joined the school faculty in 2025 as Strings Teacher for grades 3-6.
Taylor was born in Seattle and raised in Los Angeles, where she attended the Pasadena Waldorf School from kindergarten through eighth grade. Taylor received her Bachelor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance in Ann Arbor, MI, where she studied classical cello performance, as well improvisational studies through the Department of Jazz and Contemplative Studies. She has been a freelance cellist for over two decades, and has composed, recorded, traveled and performed with her cello for artists across many genres, including classical, folk rock, jazz, film, and for stage productions. Prior to joining the Madrona School faculty, Taylor served as Team Leader of the Neurodiverse Student Conservation Corps through BI Parks and Rec, where she oversaw a wonderful team of neurodiverse high-school students taking on much of the island’s invasive species to restore our beloved local ecosystems. She also formerly served as Third Grade Assistant at the Detroit Waldorf School while living in Michigan. She currently teaches cellists of all ages and abilities from her studio on the island. Her teaching philosophy centers on fostering a love of learning and creating a strong technical foundation to facilitate musical freedom (and fun!) with the cello.
More about Teacher Taylor:
Inspiration: If it were not for my own childhood learning within Waldorf education, I firmly believe I wouldn’t feel nearly as secure and confident being my full, creative self in the world. I think of my own teachers, who saw and worked with me as I was — a sensitive (yet rather mischievous) day-dreamer — and empowered me with the skills to think critically, feel deeply, and search for greater creative expression and beauty within myself and in the world. I strive to impart the same quality of guidance and attention upon my own students so they too can bloom, knowing it is safe and necessary to explore their unique potential for creative expression and, ultimately, their budding sense of self.
Hobbies: I’m a big, passionate nerd about many things, including, but not limited to, the poetry of Walt Whitman, pre-war construction and architecture, 1920’s-1950’s tiled bathrooms, historic rail and trolley systems (every town needs a trolley!), restorative environmental practices using native species (particularly Gary Oak savannah and grassland ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest)…I’ll stop there. I also enjoy meandering the trails of Bainbridge Island, but I make quite the slow hiking companion — for there are plenty of invasive species to pull out along the way!
