Tanglewood Music Festival
Billings graduated with a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from Wichita State University and then pursued graduate music studies at Boston University. While at BU he also studied at the Berkshire Music Center in the summers and notably conducted the world premiere of Mark Bucci's opera "Tale for a Deaf Ear" at the Tanglewood Music Festival in August 1957 with a cast that included Jean Kraft and Edward Purrington.