A Legacy of Music, Pedagogy, and the Suzuki Viola School,” a Lecture- Document Prepared by Merietta Oviatt in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The
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THE PREUCILS: A LEGACY OF MUSIC, PEDAGOGY, AND THE SUZUKI VIOLA SCHOOL. by MERIETTA OVIATT A LECTURE-DOCUMENT Presented to the School of Music and Dance of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts March 2015 “The Preucils: A Legacy of Music, Pedagogy, and the Suzuki Viola School,” a lecture- document prepared by Merietta Oviatt in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in the School of Music and Dance. This lecture-document has been approved and accepted by: Dr. Leslie Straka, Chair of the Examining Committee March 2015 Committee in Charge: Dr. Leslie Straka, Chair Lillian Manis Dr. Frank Diaz Accepted by: Director of Graduate Studies, School of Music and Dance ii © 2015 Merietta Oviatt iii CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Merietta Oviatt GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon University of Nevada, Las Vegas Utah State University DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Musical Arts in Viola Performance, 2015, University of Oregon Master of Music in Viola Performance, 2009, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Bachelor of Science, 2006, Utah State University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Viola and Violin Pedagogy Suzuki Method and Philosophy Chamber Music Orchestral Music Music History Body Mapping PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: - Suzuki Specialist/Instructor of Viola and Violin Aber Suzuki Center/Instructor, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, Current - Graduate Teaching Assistant: University of Oregon (2014); University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2006-2009) - String Instructor/Academy 2 Director, Eugene-Springfield Youth Symphony Orchestra, Eugene, OR, (2011-2014) iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank William and Doris Preucil without whom this document would not be possible. The Preucils have been a role model to me throughout my life, and their warm hearts and spirit are a guiding force for students and teachers alike. I wish to also thank Jeanne Rodes Preucil for her willingness to help with this project as well as Cheryl Taranto for all of her help and guidance from beginning to the end of this entire endeavor. Matthew Johnson: you have helped me, been my cheerleader, have been a mentor and a friend – thank you. Jenny Burton, Lois Geertz, and Rafael Videira - thank you for your advice and all of your help. I want to thank my family for being there for me through thick and thin. It is because of my family that I was able to complete this degree and have become the person I am today. Thanks to my husband and Chico for putting up with all of this, keeping me grounded, always being proud of me, and loving me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 II. HISTORIES ................................................................................................................ 4 The Suzuki Method and Philosophy ...................................................................... 4 Creation of the SAA (Suzuki Association of the Americas) ................................. 8 Pedagogues and their Approaches to Pedagogy .................................................. 12 III. THE PREUCILS AS MUSICIANS ....................................................................... 23 The Musical Education of Doris and William Preucil, Sr ................................... 23 The Performance Careers of Doris and William Preucil, Sr ............................... 35 IV. THE PREUCILS INVOLVEMENT IN TALENT EDUCATION, THE SAA, AND THE CREATION OF THE SUZUKI VIOLA SCHOOL ................................ 42 First Exposure to Talent Education, the SAA, and Suzuki ................................. 42 The Suzuki Viola School – its History, Creation, and Content ........................... 60 V. THE PREUCILS AND THEIR APPROACH TO PEDAGOGY .......................... 89 Inspirational Pedagogues to the Preucils ............................................................. 89 Their General Philosophy, Using Their Approach for Particular Pieces, and their approach to Scales and Etudes/Exercises ................................. 97 Their Methodology to Approaching Students ................................................... 100 VI. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 118 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 119 vi Chapter I Introduction In 1978, when I was two years old my mother, a music teacher and musician, began to teach me Suzuki violin. Two years later, although we lived 180 miles from Salt Lake City, she decided that it would be best to enroll me in weekly lessons with a different teacher, Catherine Manning. Manning was more familiar with the Suzuki method of teaching violin and was also a violist with the Utah Symphony. After three years of lessons with Manning, due to her maternity leave, I began to take lessons with Jack Ashton, noted Utah Suzuki teacher and principal second violinist of the Utah Symphony. It was during my studies with Ashton that my family became increasingly involved with the Suzuki Association in Utah and I first heard the surname Preucil. I was attending a Suzuki Institute in Logan, Utah with my family. My sister, who was a violist, had daily master classes with William Preucil Sr. It was apparent that people throughout the institute were captivated by both Doris Preucil and William Preucil Sr. and their teaching and playing abilities. That early experience with the Preucils would be the first of many. I have had the privilege of being taught by both of them (albeit only through short-term training), watching the Suzuki Viola School grow because of them, and seeing many of their students become professional musicians and teachers. During a course on pedagogy at University of Oregon I attempted to engage in a unit on William Preucil Sr. in particular. I was only able to find small snippets of information from some Suzuki journals and a few online sources that contained data on 1 both Mr. and Mrs. Preucil. There is limited availability of scholarly literature regarding the Preucils and the creation of the Suzuki Viola School. Academic searches for William Preucil Sr. yielded results for William Preucil Jr. – the successful son of Doris and William Preucil Sr. Academic searches for Doris Preucil yielded volumes of information on the Suzuki Viola School as well as her listing as a teacher of various musicians. In my searches, I came across the February 2014 issue of the American Suzuki Journal in which William Preucil Sr. had written an article that consisted of a short introduction to his wife and to himself – nothing of detail. 1 More recently, an article in the August 2014 issue of American Suzuki Journal authored by Christie Felsing and titled, “Doris and Bill Preucil: Inspiring a Music Vision,” briefly mentioned that Doris wrote the Viola School and William performed on the Viola School recordings. The main content of the article was a recap of the Preucil event that was held during the 2014 National Conference. 2 Other entries exist in the American Suzuki Journal database; however, all are short and offer only generic information. The Iowa City Public Library released a series of videos entitled Tell Me Your Story. Both William Sr. and Doris participated in the series, which contained some historical information about their time at Eastman, their development of the Preucil School, and their lives in Iowa City.3 The purpose of this Lecture Document is to analyze and discuss the lives, musical backgrounds, pedagogical approaches, and contributions of Doris and William Preucil, 1 William Preucil, “Meet the Preucils,” American Suzuki Journal (2014): 19, accessed September 14, 2014. https://suzukiassociation.org/news/meet-preucils/ 2 Christie Felsing, “Doris and Bill Preucil: Inspiring a Musical Vision,” American Suzuki Journal, 42.4 (2014): 32, accessed September 24, 2014. https://suzukiassociation.org/news/doris-bill-preucil- inspiring-musical-vision/ (Suzuki 1969) 3 Buchanan, Ellen. 2008. Tell me your story. [Iowa City, Iowa]: Iowa City Public Library. 2 Sr. to the Suzuki Viola School. The document will reveal the importance of the contributions made by the couple to the realm of music, their unique approach to pedagogy, their process for developing the Suzuki Viola School, and the purpose behind the music the Suzuki Viola School contains. This information offers teachers and violists insight into how the Preucils became involved in the Suzuki Association, their approach to teaching students, and an understanding of the organization of the various works within and the creation of the nine volumes of the Suzuki Viola School. Methods Few interviews have been conducted on this particular subject matter. As such, the main body of this document consists of excerpts of the interviews that took place at the home of the Preucils in Iowa City from March 18 to March 20, 2014. These interview excerpts have served as the primary source of the information used for this lecture document. In order to make the excerpts easier to understand and read, there was an edit of the interviews where questions and answers were changed, despite their correspondence to what was actually said, for the benefit of the reader. This included punctuation, grammar, wording, etc. This was done throughout all of the interviews that are contained within this document. To ensure