Piano faculty
Lauree Christman
Lauree is a graduate of Dickinson State University (Dickinson, ND) where she studied piano and bassoon.
She also holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Iowa where she studied with Kerry Grippe and
John Sims. Lauree completed her Suzuki Teacher Training at the American Suzuki Institute in Steven’s
Point, WI where her teachers included Haruko Kataoka, Doris Koppelman, Loraine Landefeld, Carole Bigler,
and Valerie Lloyd-Watts. She has taught at Cornell College, Viterbo College and at Suzuki Institutes in
Korea. Lauree joined the Preucil School of Music faculty in 1981 and has been head of the Piano
Department since 1986.
Debra Helene Hernstrom
Deb received her Bachelor of Music from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois and her Master of Arts
in Musicology from the University of Iowa. She was born in Moline, Illinois. Being blind since birth, she
is always accompanied by her wonderful dog, Wade. She became a piano teacher at the Preucil School of
Music in 1982 and is currently co-chair of the piano department. Since March 2000, she has been a
keyboardist for St. Wenceslas Catholic Church in Iowa City. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling,
cross-country skiing, power-walking, cooking, crafts, collecting compact discs, computing, reading and
collecting hymnals.
Ruth Gambs Johnson
Ruth graduated with honors from Drake University with a Bachelor of Music in organ/church music and a
Bachelor of Music Education. She received her Suzuki piano training from Harlow Mills and Carol
Hendrixson in Southern California and from Sue Vasquez at the Greater Pittsburg Suzuki Institute. She
taught privately in Pasadena and at the Claremont Community School of Music in Claremont, CA. For 15
years, she had a private piano studio in Fort Dodge, IA and was on the staff of Grace Lutheran Church.
She joined the Preucil Music School in Iowa City in the fall of 2006, having recently relocated to the
Iowa City area.
Barbara Michaelson
Barb studied piano with the Eugene Hudson at Wartburg College, and received her B.M. and M.A. degrees in
Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa where she studied with Kenneth Amada. She was
a winner in the IMTA Collegiate Piano Competition, and Wartburg College Concerto Competition. Barb
received her Suzuki piano training from Cheryl Holmes in St. Paul, MN. She is featured as the pianist on
the CD recordings of William Preucil’s “Suzuki Viola Book 7”, and flutist Claudia Anderson’s
“American Flute”, and has appeared frequently as an accompanist in the Iowa City area.
Hikari Nakamura
Japanese-Australian pianist Hikari Nakamura was born in Yokohama and began her music lessons on the
violin with her father, Yasuki Nakamura. Her family moved to Sydney in 1979, where she began learning the
piano through the Suzuki Method. Ms. Nakamura holds degrees from The University of Sydney, Queensland
Conservatorium of Music, Queensland University of Technology and The University of Iowa. In Australia,
her teachers have been Nada Brissenden, Neta Maughn and Max Olding with additional lessons from Lev
Vlassenko. Her studies abroad include Talent Education Research Institute in Japan with Haruko Kataoka
and from Naoyuki Taneda in Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1996, Ms Nakamura taught at The Central Queensland
University-Conservatorium of Music and in 2000 joined the piano faculty at The Preucil School of Music in
Iowa City, Iowa. A recipient of the Becker Scholarship, Ms. Nakamura obtained her Doctorate of Musical
Arts degree in 2005 from The University of Iowa, studying with Uriel Tsachor.
Aura Strohschein
Aura graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, IN with a Bachelor of Music in piano performance and
a Bachelor of Arts in French with university honors. She studied piano at the Conservatoire National de
Region de Lille in France for three years under the direction of Bernard Lerouge. She obtained her Master
of Music degree from the University of Toledo, studying piano with Dr. Michael Boyd. She is currently
pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Iowa under the instruction of Dr. Rene Lecuona.
