Teacher Training Faculty
Christie Felsing
Violin Teacher Trainer
Christie received her Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, studying violin with Vartan Manoogian and pedagogy with Marvin Rabin. After a year of
graduate studies at Boston University, including long-term Suzuki teacher training, she pursued a
nine-month Suzuki internship with Doris Preucil at the Preucil School. This experience led her to
complete a Master of Music degree in Suzuki pedagogy at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville with
John Kendall. Christie is a graduate of the National Guild og Community Schools of the Arts'
administrative training program, AMICI. She served on the Suzuki Association of the Americas Board of
Directors from 2004-2009, is a registered SAA Teacher Trainer, and was the 2010 SAA Conference
Coordinator.
Doris Bogen Preucil
Director Emeritus, Violin Teacher Trainer
Doris is the founder and Director Emeritus of the Preucil School of Music. An honors graduate of the
Eastman School of Music, she was a violinist with the National Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic.
She has served on the faculties of Western Illinois University, the University of Northern Iowa, and
Interlochen Arts Camp, and performed and presented workshops throughout the United States and in Canada,
Europe, Australia, Japan, and Korea. A Suzuki teacher since 1963, she is the author of the Suzuki Viola
School, and a Past President of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. She was named "Teacher of the
Year" by the Iowa String Teachers Association in 2005 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Eastman School in 2004.
William Preucil
Viola Teacher Trainer, Advanced Viola
William Preucil has performed in countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and throughout
North America. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, former principal violist of the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra, a founding member of the Stradivari Quartet, and is Professor Emeritus at the
University of Iowa, where he received its annual award for Teaching Excellence in 1992. Mr. Preucil is
the recording artist for the method books of the Suzuki Viola School and is now serving as vice-president
of the American Viola Society and as vice-president of the International Suzuki Association.
Sonja Berven Zeithamel
Director of the Preucil School, Violin Teacher Trainer
Sonja co-founded the Preucil School of Music in 1975 as Assistant Director and was named Director in
August 1997. She is an honors graduate of the Univeristy of Iowa School of Music. As a member of the
Preucil School of Music faculty, she teaches violin, viola, coaches string quartets and conducts string
orchestras. She is a registered Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas and travels
throughout the United States as a clinician at Suzuki Institutes and Workshops. She has served on the
Board of Directors of the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
