Violin 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.
Scott Conklin
Adjunct Violin Faculty
Scott Conklin earned Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees from The University of
Michigan School of Music as a student of Paul Kantor. He also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The
Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with David Updegraff. During his youth, Conklin was a
Suzuki student of Carol Dallinger at the University of Evansville (IN). Conklin regularly performs as a
soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, and is currently Associate Professor of Violin at The
University of Iowa School of Music.
Diane Dahl-McCoy
Diane has been a member of the Preucil School faculty since 1983. She received her
Bachelor of Music degree from St. Olaf College and her Master of Arts in Performance from the University
of Iowa. Diane received her long-term Suzuki pedagogy training from Doris Preucil from 1982-83. She was a
Visiting Artist Instructor at Cornell College from 1987-1990. Diane is currently a member of the Cedar
Rapids Symphony/Orchestra Iowa. Her three children are all Suzuki violin students.
Christie Felsing
Assistant Director of the Preucil School of Music
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.
Marit Hervig
Marit 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, 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 and is a registered Music Together® teacher
Cameo Jong
Cameo received her Artist Diploma and Master of Music in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from The
Hartt School (CT), where she studied with Jean Ingraham, Nei-yuan Hu, Brian Lewis, and Katie Lansdale and
completed her Suzuki Teacher Training under the guidance of Teri Einfeldt and Linda Fiore. She has served
on the faculties of The Hartt Community Division and The Neighborhood Music School before relocating to
Iowa. She is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree at the University of Iowa School of Music.
Linda Judiesch
Linda received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Chicago Musical College, Roosevelt
University, and is a graduate of the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan. She has been a
member of the Rochester Philharmonic, National Symphony of Chile, McMaster Chamber Orchestra and Symphony
Hamilton. She has been on the faculty of the University of Costa Rica, the Hamilton Suzuki School of
Music, the Music Center of the North Shore, and the Suzuki School of Music in Bermuda. She was the
founding president of the Ontario Suzuki Teachers’ Association, and has been a frequent institute
clinician. She has been on the Preucil School faculty since 1997 and is member of the Cedar Rapids
Symphony.
Mary Neumann
Mary received a BA in music from Grinnell College and an MA in violin performance from Western Illinois
University. She completed long term Suzuki teacher training at WIU with Lois Shepherd and Moshe Neumann.
Growing up a Suzuki student herself in Macomb, Illinois, she started violin at the age of four with Doris
Preucil and later studied with Almita Vamos. Mary joined the PSM faculty in 1995.
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.
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.
