Chelcy Bowles is Professor of Music and Director of Continuing Education in Music at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she directs professional development programs and study abroad opportunities for teachers and performers, the community adult music education program, and the Madison Early Music Festival. She holds a Ph.D. in music education (University of Texas at Austin), a master's degree in music theory, and a bachelor's degree in music education. She has taught music and music education at the elementary, secondary, college, and continuing adult levels. Dr. Bowles is an author and music education researcher, with a particular interest in the adult music learner. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update: The Applications of Research in Music Education, Southeastern Journal of Music Education, General Music Today, American String Teacher, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and International Journal of Community Music, and has been presented at major professional conferences.

Currently on the editorial board for American String Teacher and International Journal of Community Music, she has served on the editorial board for Update: The Applications of Research in Music Education, and formerly served as Lifelong Learning editor for General Music Today. She was the co-founder and is currently Chair of MENC's Adult and Community Music Education Special Research Interest Group.

Chelcy Bowles is a harpist, and taught harp in the School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the University of Arkansas. She is editor and co-author for A Harp in the School: A Guide for School Ensemble Directors and Harpists (2006, American String Teacher Association). She has performed as principal harpist in symphony, ballet, and opera orchestras in Texas, Colorado, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. She also has special interests in historical harp and traditional Irish music, and currently serves as director of the Celtic Studies Program at UW-Madison. She is the 2007 recipient of the Joyce and Gerald A. Bartell Award in the Arts at University of Wisconsin-Madison.