violists - Cedar Valley Strings

Sally Malcolm

Sally Malcolm followed an unusual path within the field of music and brings a wealth of experiential learning to the cultural life of the Cedar Valley. She attended Truman State University on a string quartet scholarship, ultimately receiving a degree in German. After spending many years abroad working for multi-national corporation in New Zealand she returned home to northern Iowa and was appointed Administrative Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Wartburg College in 2004.

An active performer, Malcolm held the principal violist’s chair of the Albany (New York) Community Symphony, and the St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra (Auckland, New Zealand). Whilst in New Zealand she was the associate principal violist of the Auckland Chamber Orchestra, and performed regularly with the Auckland Philharmonic, and Bach Musica NZ. Upon returning to the States in 2001, Malcolm joined the viola section of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra and has served the Wartburg Community Symphony Orchestra as principal violist and operations manager since 2011.

Ms. Malcolm feels at home in a variety of musical settings from the classical stage to dance bands. She has an extensive string quartet background, including tours of Austria and Switzerland, an impressive list of chamber ensemble performances both domestically and internationally, and is a frequent member of musical and opera orchestras on the east coast and Midwest. While living on the east coast she was a consistent member of big band/swing orchestras and regularly played contradances.

Kathleen Sihler

Violist Kathleen Sihler has been a member of the Northeast Iowa classical music community for the past 30 years, as an orchestral and chamber music performer, viola teacher, arts administrator, and "on call" freelance musician for touring groups, local recording studios, and Cedar Valley Strings. While continuing in her long-term position as Principal Viola with the wcfsymphony, Kathleen has also turned to a rewarding second career in international education, first at UNI and now at Wartburg College as the Study Away Coordinator. This career combines the great satisfaction of meaningful one-on-one work with promising and invested students and unique opportunities for international travel, pandemic permitting. Recent work itineraries have included Spain, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Germany.

Raised in her beloved home state of Oregon, Kathleen also considers Iowa her home, which she shares with her husband Jonathan Chenoweth, a music professor and administrator at UNI, and their daughters Claire and Kellen, both now living in the Twin Cities. Kathleen and Jonathan share a love of good food and cooking, art, reading, exploring the natural world, and enjoying their daughters, cats, and dear friends. They also look forward to a beautiful Vistabule teardrop trailer in their near future.

Andrew Steffen

A native of Cedar Rapids, Andrew Steffen holds a B.M. degree in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa and is pursuing his Master of Music Education degree at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. While at UNI, he studied Viola, String Literature, String Methods, and String Pedagogy with Dr. Julia Bullard.

Mr. Steffen has been teaching at McKinley Middle School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the past six years. In addition to his responsibilities as Orchestra Director, he coordinates the auditorium and is sound and light engineer for all auditorium events. Beyond McKinley, Steffen is leader of the Middle School Orchestra Professional Learning Community where he coordinates in-service activities for middle school orchestra directors in Cedar Rapids. In 2012, he assisted in founding the Encore! Honor Orchestra for 6th and 7th grade students of the Cedar Rapids School District.

As a performer, Mr. Steffen has been active in many professional capacities. He is in his third season with Orchestra Iowa (formerly the Cedar Rapids Symphony), his sixth season with the Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony, and previously has performed as Principal Viola with the VanderCook String Ensemble, Wartburg Community Symphony, and the University of Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra. He is an active chamber musician as a member of Cedar Valley Strings and the Ivalice Trio.

Andrew is a member of the American String Teacher's Association (ASTA) and the Iowa String Teacher's Association (ISTA) where he acts as festival chair of the statewide ISTA Middle School Honors Orchestra. He is the ISTA webmaster, member of ISTA's executive council, and in the past has assisted in coordinating the NEISTA Honors Orchestra.

In his free time, Mr. Steffen enjoys training for triathlons and arranging various tunes for string trio and string quartet, recording them, and sharing them on his YouTube channel. In just over one year, his videos have reached over 30,000 views and have been viewed in over 110 countries. Mr. Steffen lives in Cedar Rapids with his wife Melissa, their daughter Clara, and cat, Elly.