Annual Fund Drive 2010

To all my colleagues in the SAA:

Thanking Our Lucky Stars—what a wonderful sentiment to contemplate for the SAA’s Annual Fund Drive 2010. We each have had the good fortune to know many people, whose lives having touched ours, have left a lasting impression for the good in our own. There are teachers and mentors in our past, but also friends and family in the present, and colleagues whose programs have inspired us to reach for our own personal best. Choosing just one to honor now with a twinkling star may be daunting, but let’s get started and perhaps we can add others to our galaxy in ensuing years.

Thanking Our Lucky Stars is truly a time for remembering. Remembering the things that I deeply care for makes me want to help them thrive. That is the way I feel about the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and that is why I am glad that I am being asked to give. I could have thought of giving all by myself, but being asked gives me the warm feeling that we are all being asked together. My gift may seem insignificant in itself, but just knowing that during the focused time of a fund drive, we are all considering giving, I feel part of something that I care for very much.

Whomever we choose to honor, the gift itself will go towards furthering the mission of the SAA, so it is a gift of double magnitude. In making my choice, I’m going to think outside the box a little bit. It is a time of remembering, yes, but also a time of looking forward. And that is why I am dedicating my gift in honor of “all of the children who aren’t even born yet.” In so doing I will be helping to assure that the SAA will be strong and vibrant when they arrive. And what could be better than that?

Cordially,

Bill Preucil, Sr.

William Preucil Sr., violist, has performed in thirty-five countries on six continents. He received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, was principal violist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and a founding member of the Stradivari Quartet. He is Emeritus Professor at The University of Iowa, where he was given its annual M.L. Huit Award for Teaching Excellence in 1992.

Mr. Preucil is the recording artist for the method books of the Suzuki Viola School and has served the Suzuki Association of the Americas as Chair of the Board of Directors and also the International Suzuki Association as its Vice President. As a registered Teacher Trainer with the SAA, he has taught master classes and workshops in Europe, Asia, Australia, and throughout North America. He is a longtime member of the American String Teachers Association who presented him with its Artist Teacher Award of 2009, and also of the American Viola Society where he served as Vice President and received their award for Creative Achievement in 2008.

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