William Preucil (born January 30, 1958) is an American violinist. During a musical career spanning several decades, he served as
concertmaster
The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...
for four major American orchestras, most notably the
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...
from 1995, until he was dismissed in 2018. He also played with the
Cleveland Quartet
The Cleveland Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1969 by violinist Donald Weilerstein, at the time an instructor at the Cleveland Institute of Music, whose director Victor Babin had secured funding for an in-resident quartet (the institute's f ...
, which won a
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance was awarded from 1959 to 2011. The award was discontinued in 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; since 2012, recordings in this category have fallen under the Best Small Ensemble Perfor ...
in 1997. He was a longtime member of the faculty at
Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...
until his resignation in 2018, following allegations of
sexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, se ...
.
Early life and education
William Preucil was born on January 30, 1958, in
Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...
, to a musical family. His mother, father, and various siblings played violin, while other family members played the harp, the horn, and the cello.
Preucil started playing the violin at the age of five, initially studying with his mother. At the age of 16, he graduated with honors from the
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City.
In ...
. He later entered the
Indiana University School of Music
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...
, where he earned a Performer's Certificate under the tutelage of
Josef Gingold
Josef Gingold (; January 11, 1995) was a Russian-born American classical violinist and teacher who lived most of his life in the United States. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin masters in the United St ...
.
He also studied with
Zino Francescatti René-Charles "Zino" Francescatti (August 9, 1902 – September 17, 1991) was a French virtuoso violinist.
Zino Francescatti was born in Marseilles, to a musical family. Both parents were violinists. His father, who also played the cello, had stu ...
and
György Sebők
György Sebők (November 2, 1922 – November 14, 1999) was a Hungarian-born American pianist and professor at the Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, United States.
He was known worldwide as a soloist with major ...
.
Career
In 1982, Preucil became the
concertmaster
The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...
of the
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center.
History
Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...
; he had previously served as the concertmaster of the
Utah Symphony
The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving c ...
and the
Nashville Symphony
The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra is resident at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
History
In 1920, prior to the 1946 founding of the Nashville Symphony, a group of amateur and ...
. He appeared as soloist with the orchestra in 70 performances of 15 different violin concertos.
[ In 1989, Preucil left the Atlanta Symphony to become the first violinist of the ]Cleveland Quartet
The Cleveland Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1969 by violinist Donald Weilerstein, at the time an instructor at the Cleveland Institute of Music, whose director Victor Babin had secured funding for an in-resident quartet (the institute's f ...
; he would remain so until the quartet's disbanding seven seasons later. During his tenure with the ensemble, Preucil won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance was awarded from 1959 to 2011. The award was discontinued in 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; since 2012, recordings in this category have fallen under the Best Small Ensemble Perfor ...
in 1996 for a recording of John Corigliano
John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...
's String Quartet. He also recorded the complete Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
string quartets, as well as chamber works by Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...
, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
, Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
, and Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
, for the Telarc
Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...
label.[
In 1995, Preucil became the concertmaster of the ]Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...
, serving until his termination in 2018. He regularly appeared with the orchestra as soloist in concertos,[ and also has appeared as soloist with the ]Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...
, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Cantonese: 香港管弦樂團), commonly abbreviated as HKPO or HKPhil (Cantonese: 港樂), is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1947 as an amateur orchestra under the name Si ...
, Minnesota Orchestra
The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall.
History
Em ...
, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music.
History
George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Company ...
, and the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra
The Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO; ) is a Taiwanese orchestra based in Taipei.
History
Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1985 by a group of enthusiastic musicians. It has come a long way under the direction of late American condu ...
. Each summer, Preucil also served as the concertmaster of the Mainly Mozart Festival Mainly Mozart is a 501(c)3 non-profit based in San Diego, California.
Mainly Mozart was created in 1988 by Maestro David Atherton and Executive Director Nancy Laturno, formerly of the San Diego Symphony, to give the people of Southern California and ...
Orchestra. Preucil is currently the violinist of the Lanier Trio, which has recorded the complete Dvořák piano trios and the trios of Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...
and Paulus.[
Preucil was a longtime faculty member of the ]Cleveland Institute of Music
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) is a private music conservatory in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1920 by Ernest Bloch, it enrolls 325 students in the conservatory and approximately 1,500 students in the preparatory and continuing educatio ...
and was serving as Distinguished Professor of Violin upon his resignation in 2018. Preucil also served as Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Furman University
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
before being terminated in 2018. He also previously served on the faculties of the University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
and the Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman.
It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...
.[
He also is known for recording the music CDs for the Suzuki Violin Volumes.
]
Sexual misconduct allegations
On July 26, 2018, graphic allegations of Preucil committing acts of sexual misconduct were published in ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. Preucil's employers swiftly reacted in wake of the revelations. On July 27, 2018, André Gremillet, the Cleveland Orchestra's executive director, announced that the orchestra was suspending Preucil with pay and investigating the claims made in the ''Washington Post''. Additionally on July 27, Paul Hogle, the president and executive director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, released a statement saying that while he declined to comment on details in the article, the school is "deeply troubled" by the allegations and has "zero tolerance" for behavior that puts its students at risk. According to a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Institute of Music, the school had begun to review the situation internally. On July 28, 2018, Preucil resigned from the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and was dismissed from his post at Furman University
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
.
On August 16, 2018, the Orchestra announced that it had hired the Debevoise & Plimpton
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (often shortened to Debevoise) is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1931 by Harvard Law School alumnus Eli Whitney Debevoise and Oxford-trained William Stevenson, the firm was original ...
law firm to conduct an independent investigation of Preucil, including the claims made in ''The Washington Post''. The investigation was overseen by a special committee consisting of five members from the Orchestra's Board of Trustees. During the course of the investigation, more than 70 people were interviewed, and Preucil himself was interviewed by the investigators on October 18, 2018. In that interview, Preucil admitted to "engaging in sexual contact with three female students during or after lessons," but refused to answer a number of other questions, "which largely focused on sexual activity with women who had not already been identified in the press." The investigation concluded that Preucil used his position to entice female students to one-on-one situations where he engaged in sexual misconduct, and used his position in the classical community to ensure that victims remained silent. On October 24, 2018, Preucil was fired by the Cleveland Orchestra following its investigation.
Personal life
Preucil was married to the violinist Gwen Starker-Preucil, daughter of the famed cellist János Starker
János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is consider ...
.[ They divorced in December 2017. His daughter, Alexandra Preucil, is also a violinist; she previously served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra.]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Preucil, William
1958 births
Living people
American classical violinists
Male classical violinists
Cleveland Institute of Music faculty
20th-century classical violinists
21st-century classical violinists
Interlochen Center for the Arts alumni
Jacobs School of Music alumni
Furman University faculty
University of Georgia faculty
Eastman School of Music faculty
Concertmasters
People from Dearborn, Michigan
Classical musicians from Michigan
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
20th-century American violinists
21st-century American violinists