Currently based in Madison, Wisconsin, Dr. Zachary Preucil enjoys a variety of activities as a performer, educator, and administrator. In addition to performing with the Dubuque Symphony, Dr. Preucil serves as principal cellist of the La Crosse Symphony, and has recently performed with the Quad City Symphony, the Wisconsin Philharmonic, and the Central Wisconsin Symphony. In 2022, Dr. Preucil joined clarinetist Sarah Manasreh and pianist Katherine Petersen to form Trio des Éléments, which has been featured on the International Music Foundation’s Rush Hour Concert Series, the International Clarinet Association’s 2023 Clarinetfest, and the Mackinac Arts Council’s Performing Arts Concert Series, as well as residencies at Illinois State University and the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. Additional solo and chamber music appearances include the Green Lake Festival of Music, Midsummer’s Music Festival, the Music Institute of Chicago Faculty/Guest Artist Series, Concerts in the Shed, Caroga Lake Music Festival, and as a soloist with the Schaumburg Youth Symphony at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall. Dr. Preucil has been praised by the press for his “gorgeous phrasing, attractive color, nimble finger work and lyrical quality” (Hyde Park Herald), and his solo and chamber music performances have been broadcast on Wisconsin Public Radio and WFMT Chicago.
As an educator, Dr. Preucil maintains a private studio in Madison and online at the Virtu Academy program, and serves as an instructor for the Madison Cello Ensemble. Additional teaching experience has included collegiate appointments 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 University of Wisconsin–-Madison Community Music School. Additionally, he has given masterclasses at St. Olaf College, the 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 Music Institute of Chicago 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 serve as a guest clinician and director of the iConnect Summer Program for cello students ages nine to fourteen. He has coached chamber music at the Music Institute of Chicago, the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra and the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra programs, and is currently co-director and coach for the Farley’s Chamber Music Program in Madison.
Dr. Preucil holds a D.M.A. in Cello Performance and a minor in Arts Administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was inducted into the school’s chapters of Phi Kappa Phi and the National Society for Leadership and Success. He received his M.M. in Cello Performance and an Arts Leadership Certificate from the Eastman School of Music as a Pi Kappa Lambda inductee, and his B.M. in Cello Performance with honors 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, registered training in the Suzuki Cello Method, and teacher trainer certification in the Creative Ability Development improvisation method.
