In 1982, Preucil became the concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; he had previously served as the concertmaster of the Utah Symphony and the Nashville Symphony. He appeared as soloist with the orchestra in 70 performances of 15 different violin concertos. In 1989, Preucil left the Atlanta Symphony to become the first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet; he would remain so until the quartet's disbanding seven seasons later. During his tenure with the ensemble, Preucil won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance in 1996 for a recording of John Corigliano's String Quartet. He also recorded the complete Beethoven string quartets, as well as chamber works by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms, for the Telarc label. In 1995, Preucil became the concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra, serving until his termination in 2018. He regularly appeared with the orchestra as soloist in concertos, and also has appeared as soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. Each summer, Preucil also served as the concertmaster of the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Preucil is currently the violinist of the Lanier Trio, which has recorded the complete Dvořák piano trios and the trios of Mendelssohn and Paulus. Preucil was a longtime faculty member of the Cleveland Institute of Music and was serving as Distinguished Professor of Violin upon his resignation in 2018. Preucil also served as Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at Furman University before being terminated in 2018. He also previously served on the faculties of the University of Georgia and the Eastman School of Music.
Sexual misconduct allegations
On July 26, 2018, graphic allegations of Preucil committing acts of sexual misconduct were published in The Washington Post. Preucil's employers swiftly reacted in wake of the revelations. On July 27, 2018, André Gremillet, the Cleveland Orchestra's executive director, announced that the orchestra was suspending Preucil with pay and investigating the claims made in the Washington Post. Additionally on July 27, Paul Hogle, the president and executive director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, released a statement saying that while he declined to comment on details in the article, the school is "deeply troubled" by the allegations and has "zero tolerance" for behavior that puts its students at risk. According to a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Institute of Music, the school had begun to review the situation internally. On July 28, 2018, Preucil resigned from the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music and was dismissed from his post at Furman University. On August 16, 2018, the Orchestra announced that it had hired the Debevoise & Plimpton law firm to conduct an independent investigation of Preucil, including the claims made in The Washington Post. The investigation was overseen by a special committee consisting of five members from the Orchestra's Board of Trustees. During the course of the investigation, more than 70 people were interviewed, and Preucil himself was interviewed by the investigators on October 18, 2018. In that interview, Preucil admitted to "engaging in sexual contact with three female students during or after lessons," but refused to answer a number of other questions, "which largely focused on sexual activity with women who had not already been identified in the press." On October 24, 2018, Preucil was fired by the Cleveland Orchestra following its investigation.
Personal life
Preucil was married to the violinist Gwen Starker-Preucil, daughter of the famed cellist János Starker. They divorced in December 2017. His daughter, Alexandra Preucil, is also a violinist; she previously served as Assistant Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra.
