A native of Sterling, Illinois, I began piano lessons at the age of 5 and flute at the age of 7. I received my Masters Degree from Northern Illinois University in Flute Performance and was a Doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota. My teachers have included the late Geoffrey Gilbert (teacher of Galway, Wye and Bennett), Tadeu Coelho, Immanuel Davis, the late Charles Delaney, Mary Louise Poor, Gale Coffee, the late Jacob Berg and Peter Middleton. I have attended/performed in major master-classes with William Bennett, James Galway, Julius Baker, Keith Underwood, Walfrid Kujala, Leone Buyse, Bonita Boyd, Wilbert Hazelzet, Wissam Boustany, and Jeanne Baxtresser.

I have been fortunate to have also performed with such greats as Garrison Keillor, Anne Murray, Isaac Stern and Mstislav Rostropovich and have performed all over the country including Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Illinois. I will make my solo flute debut at Carnegie Hall in April of 2008.

I have judged flute contests for many years including the International Young Artist Competition for the National Flute Association.

Currently a flute professor at University of Wisconsin-Platteville, I have served as flute faculty at Hamline University, Concordia University, and College of St. Catherine, all in St. Paul, Minnesota. I have been Visiting Artist in Residence at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa and a substitute faculty member at the University of Iowa. I am a published and recorded composer as well as a professional piano accompanist, and was featured on the PBS-IPTV Series Living in Iowa and on Wisconsin Public Radio Sunday Afternoon LIVE from the Chazen Museum. I also have a flute CD entitled "The Voice Outside". Margaret Cornils is a Miyazawa Artist.