Furman Music

Furman, Distinguished Visiting Professors

Masterful Performers - Masterful Mentors

Furman’s Distinguished Visiting Professors of Music make an impact on Furman student musicians.

While Greenville and the Furman campus enjoy a beautiful and inviting position in the Blue Ridge foothills, upstate South Carolina is somewhat off the beaten path for musical artists with national and international reputations. While schools in some parts of the country might not have the garden-like appeal of the Furman campus, many do have an enviable proximity to top-tier performers and acclaimed teaching professionals. It is not uncommon at all for the adjunct faculty rosters of colleges to include renowned concert artists and principal players from the major orchestras. There is a widely accepted belief that a part of every student’s training should include interaction with those who have made successful careers in the performing arts.
Though Furman’s Music Department has for many years sponsored master classes by visiting artists – the 2006-07 academic year saw a number of these – the nature of such classes allows them usually to be only one-time affairs, often inspiring students, but leaving them and their teachers wishing for more. As an enhancement of the teaching mission of our Department and with the support of the Furman Administration, we have in recent years named three Distinguished Visiting Professors of Music to our roster. Each of these accomplished artists has made a commitment to regular and ongoing residencies that will see them performing, teaching, and interacting with our students and faculty. The work of these gifted and charismatic artists combined with the effective, inspirational teaching of our own distinguished faculty gives engaged musical learning at Furman a dynamic and exciting edge.

William Preucil
Violin, Concertmaster, Cleveland Orchestra
Professor, Cleveland Institute of Music

William Preucil, concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra and Distinguished Professor of Violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music, has joined the Furman University Department of Music as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Violin.

Preucil will visit Furman three times during each academic year, where he will present a public violin masterclass, teach private lessons to selected Furman students, and coach the Hartness and Gladden String Quartets. His inaugural visit to Furman in September 2007 will feature a solo violin recital with pianist Arthur Rowe in Daniel Recital Hall.

“William Preucil is one of the most outstanding orchestra concertmasters and violin teachers in the country today,” said Dr. Thomas Joiner, Professor of Violin and Orchestral Studies at Furman. “When he visits our department, he will present recitals and masterclasses, teach lessons, and coach chamber music. Furman music students and faculty will enjoy the rare opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship with this world class musician.”

Preucil was appointed concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1994.; Prior to that, he performed for seven seasons as the first violinist of the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Quartet.; He also served seven years as concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony, and held the same positions with the Utah and Nashville orchestras.

During his tenure in Atlanta, Preucil appeared with the orchestra as soloist in 70 performances of 15 different concertos. Composer Stephen Paulus’ “Violin Concerto” was written for — and dedicated to — Preucil, who premiered the piece and recorded it for New World Records with the Atlanta Symphony and conductor Robert Shaw. He has also made solo appearances with the symphony orchestras of Minnesota, Detroit, Rochester, Hong Kong, and Taipei.

Preucil regularly performs at the most prestigious North American chamber music festivals, including those in Seattle, Sitka, Sarasota and Sante Fe, as well as international festivals in Switzerland, France, and Germany. He also serves as concertmaster and violin soloist of the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra in San Diego, and continues to perform as a member of the Lanier Trio, whose recording of the complete Dvorak piano trios was honored as one of Time magazine’s top 10 compact discs for 1993.

Actively involved as an educator, Mr. Preucil is Distinguished Professor of Violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also a member of the artistic advisory board for the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan and has previously held positions as professor of music at the Eastman School of Music, Artist in Residence at the University of Maryland School of Music, and Distinguished Lecturer in Music at the University of Georgia.

Mr. Preucil began studying violin at the age of five with his mother, Doris Preucil, a pioneer in Suzuki violin instruction in the U.S.; At the age of 16, he graduated with honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy and entered Indiana University to study with Josef Gingold.; He was awarded a prestigious performer’s certificate at Indiana University and also studied with Zino Francescatti and Gyorgy Sebok.

For more information, contact Furman music professor Thomas Joiner at 864-294-2219.

Richard Cass
Concert Pianist and Clinician

Richard Cass’ concert career has taken him to the major cities of all fifty USA states, as well as to Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Critics in New York, Washington, Paris and London call him "an important pianist from America", a "superb performer of technical finesse and honest musicianship", and "one of the best."

Richard Cass has also achieved a widespread reputation as a teacher. He is professor emeritus at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri, Kansas City where he was mentor to a small group of gifted young artists from several countries. He continues his performing career with recitals, concertos with orchestra, recordings, chamber music and residencies at prominent universities and conservatories. He is featured in Ben Saver's book, "The Most Wanted Piano Teachers in the USA" and is the recipient of numerous awards and citations.

A native of Greenville, SC, Cass received his early training there with Lenoir Almand and Wendell Keeney. He graduated summa cum laude from Furman University where he majored in music and French. Later studies as a Fulbright scholar at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris earned the enthusiastic aid and endorsement of Alfred Cortot, Nadia Boulanger and Jules Gentil. Richard Cass is a Steinway Artist.

Edvard Tchivzhel
Music Director and Conductor
Greenville Symphony Orchestra

Internationally acclaimed conductor, Maestro Edvard Tchivzhel (pronounced CHIV-GEL), is entering his sixth season as music director and conductor of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia, into a family of professional musicians, Tchivzhel showed exceptional musical talent from an early age. He graduated from the Leningrad Conservatoire with the highest distinction in the areas of piano and conducting, and completed three more years of postgraduate study at the Conservatoire’s Higher Academy of Music in the prestigious conducting classes of Arvid Jansons. While still a student, Tchivzhel scored a remarkable success by winning the Third Soviet Conductor’s Competition in Moscow.

Tchivzhel’s career has won international status with appearances in England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. Tchivzhel is permanent guest conductor of the Auckland Philharmonic in New Zealand and continues to conduct regularly in Scandinavia, New Zealand and Australia.

In February 1991, Tchivzhel was enthusiastically received during a tour of the State Russian Symphony Orchestra in the United States. Following this tour, he defected to the U.S. He has since conducted with several American orchestras. Tchivzhel has performed with many great artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Gidon Kremer, Vladimir Spivakov, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Emmanuel Ax, Andre Watts, Janos Starker, Olga Kern, Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell, Bella Davidovich, Doc Severinsen, and Pete Fountain.

Tchivzhel was selected as music director and conductor for the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in 1999. He was appointed music director for the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Philharmonic in 1993, a position he continues to hold. He and his wife Luba have a son, Arvid, who is currently a sophomore at Furman University. The Tchivzhel family became U.S. citizens in 1999.