In Wednesday’s (5/1) Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Zachary Lewis writes, “The Cleveland Orchestra has a new assistant concertmaster, and she comes from within. Deep within. So deep, in fact, the man she’s assisting is her own father. Following auditions for the post last week, the orchestra appointed Alexandra Preucil, a current member of the orchestra’s first violins. She replaces Lev Polyakin, who retired last year. … The orchestra was at pains to ward off charges of nepotism. Several sources confirmed that both Preucil’s father, concertmaster William Preucil, and uncle, principal second violinist Stephen Rose, were not present at her audition. Furthermore, sources said, [Music Director Franz] Welser-Möst heard every candidate himself and made his choice independently. In any case, Preucil would seem to be qualified for the job. While studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music, she served as assistant concertmaster of both the Akron Symphony and the Canton Symphony Orchestra. … Preucil was not the only new hire last week. The orchestra also added violinist Yun-Ting Lee to the second violin section. A former member of CityMusic Cleveland and a one-time student of concertmaster Preucil at [Cleveland Institute of Music], Lee joins the orchestra this week.”
Posted May 1, 2013
