A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Stephanie March is Principal Cellist of the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra and Associate Principal of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. She teaches at Morningside University in addition to maintaining an active private cello studio. She was one of only five Rogers Scholars in her class at the Eastman School of Music and graduated with Highest Distinction in 2011. At Eastman, she studied cello with Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliott and performed as principal in orchestras under the baton of Maestro Neil Varon. Her master’s degree was earned at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) where she attended as a full-tuition Eckstein Scholarship winner, studying with Hans Jørgen Jensen. March began studying cello at age three with Joseph Shufro, Principal of the SCSO. At age eleven she continued her studies with Peter Howard, Principal Cellist of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. By the time she was twelve, she was performing as a full section member in the SCSO. She has also performed with the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, the New World Symphony in Miami, the Omaha Symphony, the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Door County Wisconsin and as Associate Principal with the South Dakota Symphony. Her solo appearances with the Sioux City Symphony have included the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Maestro Xian Zhang, works by Rachmaninoff and Ginastera to celebrate the symphony’s centennial season with Maestro Ryan Haskins and, during the 2022-23 season, the Haydn Cello Concerto in D. March has performed as a member of the Dakota String Quartet and as soloist and chamber musician on recitals at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Meadowmount School of Music (where she also taught), the LeMoyne Music Journeys Series, the Piano Recital Series at Morningside University and the Sioux City Chamber Music Association Series. In 2013, March was selected as the National Winner of the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist String Competition in Anaheim, CA. March’s chamber music collaborations have included Grammy-nominated James Ehnes, Paavali Jumppanen and Andrew Russo. She has worked with award-winning composer George Tsontakis and Pulitzer Prize winner Aaron Jay Kernis.
