William Preucil became concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra in April 1995 and has appeared regularly as a soloist with the orchestra in concerto performances at both Severance Hall and Blossom Music Center.

Scroll down for full bio and 2012 Festival performances below

Be sure to hear all of William Preucil’s 2012 Festival performances listed below

Sunday, July 15, 2012, 6:00 PM at St. Francis Auditorium
Helen Grime / Dohnányi / Brahms

Monday, July 16, 2012, 6:00 PM at St. Francis Auditorium
Helen Grime / Dohnányi / Brahms

Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 7:30 PM at Simms Auditorium/Albuquerque Academy
Fauré / Schubert

Thursday, July 19, 2012, 12:00 PM at St. Francis Auditorium
Beethoven / Franck

Thursday, July 19, 2012, 6:00 PM at St. Francis Auditorium
Fauré / Schubert

Saturday, July 21, 2012, 5:00 PM at St. Francis Auditorium
Bach Plus

Sunday, July 22, 2012, 6:00 PM at St. Francis Auditorium
Bartók / Schubert / Dohnányi

Monday, July 23, 2012, 6:00 PM at St. Francis Auditorium
Bartók / Schubert / Dohnányi

William Preucil became concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra in April 1995 and has appeared regularly as a soloist with the orchestra in concerto performances at both Severance Hall and Blossom Music Center.  Prior to joining the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Preucil served for seven seasons as first violinist of the Grammy-winning Cleveland Quartet, performing more than 100 concerts each year in the world’s major music capitals.  Telarc International recorded the Cleveland Quartet performing the complete cycle of Beethoven’s 17 string quartets, as well as a variety of chamber works by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Brahms.

From 1982 to 1989, William Preucil served as concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra after previously holding the same position with the orchestras of Utah and Nashville.  During his tenure in Atlanta, he appeared with the Atlanta Symphony as soloist in 70 performances of 15 different concertos.  Composer Stephen Paulus’s Violin Concerto was written for, and dedicated to, Mr. Preucil, who premiered it and then recorded it for New World Records with the Atlanta Symphony and conductor Robert Shaw.  Mr. Preucil also has made solo appearances with the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Hong Kong, Minnesota, Rochester and Taipei.

Mr. Preucil regularly performs chamber music, as a guest soloist with other orchestras and at summer music festivals.  His North American festival performances have included Santa Fe, Sarasota, Seattle and Sitka, with international appearances in France, Germany and Switzerland.  Each summer he serves as concertmaster and violin soloist with the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra in San Diego.  Mr. Preucil also continues to perform as a member of the Lanier Trio, whose recording of the complete Dvořák piano trios was honored as one of Time Magazine’s top 10 compact discs for 1993.  The Lanier Trio has also recorded the trios of Mendelssohn and Paulus for Gasparo Records.

Actively involved as an educator, Mr. Preucil serves as Distinguished Professor of Violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Furman University.  He previously taught at the Eastman School of Music and at the University of Georgia.

William Preucil began studying violin at the age of five with his mother, Doris Preucil, a pioneer in Suzuki violin instruction in the United States.  At 16, he graduated with honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy and entered Indiana University to study with Josef Gingold (former concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra).  He was awarded a performer’s certificate at Indiana University and also studied with Zino Francescatti and Gyorgy Sebok.