Zachary Preucil
Cello All levels, ages 10 and up, adultsCurrently accepting new students.
Biographical Info
Dr. Zachary Preucil enjoys a variety of activities as a performer, educator, and administrator. Currently, Dr. Preucil serves as principal cellist of the La Crosse Symphony, teaches privately in Madison and the online Virtu Academy program, and is a faculty member at the Madison Cello Ensemble program. Additionally, he co-directs the Farley’s Chamber Music Program, and directs the International Cello Institute’s iConnect summer program for cellists ages 9-15. Dr. Preucil is a member of Quartet 608, and performs regularly with the Madison Symphony, Quad City Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, Sioux City Symphony, Dubuque Symphony, and the Wisconsin Philharmonic. Dr. Preucil has appeared on the International Music Foundation’s “Rush Hour” Concert Series, Midsummer’s Music Festival, Third Coast Chamber Music Collective, the Mackinac Arts Council Concert Series, Green Lake Music Festival, the Music Institute of Chicago Faculty/Guest Artist Series, Concerts in the Shed, Bethel Concert Series, Caroga Lake Music Festival, and as a soloist with the Waukegan Symphony and the Schaumburg Youth Symphony. He has been praised by the press for his “gorgeous phrasing, attractive color, nimble finger work and lyrical quality” (Hyde Park Herald), and his performances have been broadcast on Wisconsin Public Radio, WFMT Chicago, and PBS Wisconsin.
In over a decade of teaching experience, Dr. Preucil has taught collegiately at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and Carroll University, and at pre-college programs including the Music Institute of Chicago, the Kanack School of Musical Artistry, Music for Youth of Arlington Heights, and the UW–Madison Community Music School. Additionally, he has given masterclasses at St. Olaf College, University of Minnesota–Duluth, Illinois State University, Bemidji State University, Wheaton College Community School for the Arts, Western Springs School of Talent Education, Community Cello Works of Blacksburg, Virginia, and MIC Winter Workshops. Dr. Preucil has held teaching assistantships at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a teaching fellowship at the International Cello Institute in Northfield, Minnesota, where he continues to teach annually and serve on the Artistic Development Team. He has coached chamber music at the Music Institute of Chicago, the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra and Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra programs, and the Farley’s Chamber Music Program.
Dr. Preucil holds a D.M.A. in Cello Performance and a minor in Arts Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a M.M. in Cello Performance and an Arts Leadership Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and a B.M. in Cello Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. His primary teachers have included Uri Vardi, David Ying, Yeesun Kim, and Walter Preucil, and he has studied chamber music with members of the Borromeo, Pro Arte, and Ying Quartets. Further education has included summer studies at the Aspen Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, the Castleman Quartet Programs, the National Summer Cello Institute and Interlochen Arts Camp, and registered training in the Suzuki Cello Method with Dr. Tanya Carey, Jean Dexter and Rick Mooney. Additionally, Dr. Preucil is a certified teacher trainer in the Creative Ability Development improvisation method, having worked extensively with its founder, Alice Kanack.