Viola faculty
Janet AultJanet received her BA in History from Ginnell College and her Bachelor’s Degree in music Education from Cornell College. She studied Suzuki pedagogy with Rebecca Sandrok, Doris Preucil, William Preucil, Sr., and John Kendall. Janet is now retired from teaching in the public school orchestra program in Mt. Vernon where she taught for over twenty years. Janet joined the faculty of the Preucil School in 1976. Four of Janet’s five children are Preucil School alumni and two of her ten grandchildren currently attend the Preucil School.
Marit HervigMarit holds a Bachelor of Music from Western Illinois University and a Master of Music from Arizona State University in viola performance and pedagogy. Marit’s teachers include Doris Preucil, William Preucil, Dr. Roland Vamos, William Magers and William Lincer. She completed her Suzuki Teacher Training with Sonja Zeithamel and Doris Preucil. A former Preucil School student, Marit has taught at the University of Memphis Suzuki Institute, is a registered Music Together teacher, and has been a member of both the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Quad Cities Symphony.
Doris Bogen Preucil
Director Emeritus of the Preucil School of Music
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
Advanced Viola
William 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 Emeritus Professor at the University of Iowa,
where he received its annual M.L. Huit Award for Teaching Excellence
in 1992. He is the recording artist for the method books of the Suzuki
Viola School, and has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the
Suzuki Association of the Americas, vice-president of the International
Suzuki Association, and vice-president of the American Viola Society,
which gave him its Creative Achievement Award in 2008. He is also the
recipient of the American String Teachers Association 2009 Artist Teacher
Award. An SAA registered Teacher-Trainer, Mr. Preucil has performed
concerts and taught classes in more than thirty-five countries on six
continents.
Tabitha Rasmussen
Tabitha received her Bachelor of Music and Teaching Certificate and
Master of Music Education at the University of Iowa. Tabitha is an alumna
of the Preucil School where she studied with Diane Dahl-McCoy and Doris
Preucil. She taught public school orchestra in Lamoni and Davenport,
Iowa and currently teaches orchestra in the public schools in Mt. Vernon,
Iowa. Her children are currently violin students at the Preucil School.
John Schultz
John Schultz holds a Master of Music degree from the Leonard Sorkin
Institute of Chamber Music. Prior to this Mr. Schultz received his Bachelor
of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he
studied on full scholarship with Myron Kartman. He has studied Suzuki
violin pedagogy with Nancy Jackson, Alice Joy Lewis, Mark Bjork, and
has studied viola pedagogy with William Preucil. In addition to teaching
at the Preucil School, Mr. Schultz is president of the Schultz Strings
Inc., as well as offering chamber music concerts throughout the corridor
area.
Gwen Ying
Gwen received her Bachelor of Music Education from Northwestern University.
She studied Suzuki Pedagogy with Rebecca Fitz Sandrok, Doris Preucil,
John Kendall and Shinichi Suzuki. From 1972-88 she was Director of the
Suzuki Program at Elmhurst College (Illinois), and at Christ Church
of Oakbrook, Illinois. She introduced the Suzuki Method in Russia in
1995. Currently Gwen teaches in Washington, Iowa and at the Preucil
School of Music in Iowa City.
Sonja Berven Zeithamel
Director of the Preucil School of Music
Sonja co-founded the Preucil School of Music in 1975 as Assistant Director
and was named Director of August 1997. She is an honors graduate of
the University 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.
