Photo of Dean Nancy Uscher by Joseph Donato (Cashman Photo)

Dean Nancy Uscher

Take a Bow

BY STACEY GUALANDI

“Arts are the only tangible proof that mankind was not made for destruction.”

Dr. Nancy Uscher, as the Dean of UNLV’s College of Fine Arts, certainly knows what she speaks of, but she didn’t share that sentiment during her current tenure at the university. She wrote those prescient words in her high school yearbook when she was just 17.

“Today, I would share this sentiment,” said the concert violist. “The arts are an essential and fundamental component of each person’s life, as well as a meaningful contributor to the health and well-being of society—from a global perspective—for the long years to come on this planet, and perhaps other planets in the universe!”

Many would agree that Dr. Uscher’s career is a work of art. With a decades-long devotion to music—first through performing, then teaching, and now leading—she has created a canvas for the arts to survive and thrive.

In 2016, Dr. Uscher was named Dean of the College of Fine Arts at UNLV (“a privilege”), where she oversees teaching, performing, and exhibiting in seven academic arts and architecture disciplines and schools, as well as the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art and the UNLV Performing Arts Center.

“I have enormous respect for all of our departments and schools in the College of Fine Arts,” said a proud Dr. Uscher. “I love to see and celebrate student work and the incredible mentorship of our faculty and the heartfelt dedication they have to help students thrive. I am also intrigued by the knowledge created through interdisciplinary activities—and how this fosters innovation.”

In fact, working across disciplines is already paying off.

In August, the UNLV students from the seven academic units in the CFA came together with faculty at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland to create the original work “Is It Art?” That was the only student-oriented project among more than 3,000 at the Festival to receive a five-star review by the newspaper, The Scotsman.

Dr. Uscher says it was a rare, transformative experience in tune with the college’s mission.

“We’re about empowering and engaging our community to be visionary change makers through acts of imagination,” said Dr. Uscher. “This was artists, architects, filmmakers, performing and visual artists, entertainment engineering, and design all working together to come up with something that never existed before. We’re very proud that we could support this financially from a $1 million endowment.”

Under her creative tutelage, Dr. Uscher says she and the college want to keep that momentum going, plan strategically for the future and inspire both students and faculty.

“I feel my deepest responsibility is to serve others,” admits Dr. Uscher. “It is also very important to share a sense of strong optimism about the future. Taking an academic pathway—and my interest in academic leadership—has provided a wonderful balance to my previous and fulfilling life as a performer and teacher.”

Dr. Uscher was only four years old when her parents took her family to a Boston Symphony rehearsal at the Tanglewood Music Festival in the Berkshires. That quickly struck a chord, and soon after, she began sneaking out of bed to listen to La Boheme on her parents’ stereo system.

“That was a thrill, putting my ear next to the loudspeaker (it could not be too loud, or I would have woken my family up),” said Dr. Uscher. “It was a private moment for me to be completely immersed in the sound. I also recognized that Puccini’s music reminded me of popular music of the times, and I realized that all music was somehow connected.”

Eventually, it was her elementary school music teacher who connected a pre-teen Nancy with her first instrument.

“I will always feel enormous gratitude for Ellen Amsterdam, my music teacher, who started me on violin when I was nine years old and opened up for me an incredible life.”

She picked up the viola several years later, especially loving the viola’s role “as an inner voice in a string quartet and other chamber music, as well as exploration of the solo literature for viola.”

As a disciplined performer, she appeared in all-state youth orchestras. Eventually, she played Carnegie Hall in high school as part of an American Airlines-supported national youth orchestra called American Youth Performs and the New York-based Cosmopolitan Young Peoples Orchestra. She went on to earn her Master’s degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Ph.D. and distinguished alumni award from New York University.

“I will always remember my New York and London debut solo recitals [in 1981] because doing these concerts were goals I had set for myself among life’s milestones,” said Dr. Uscher. “I took time to do this while living in Jerusalem and playing in an orchestra there. They were both joyous opportunities to share music I loved with family and friends who meant so much to me.”

Since then, Dr. Uscher has performed in likely hundreds of recitals and chamber music concerts. But two performances in particular hit a career-high note.

“[When I] played the musical Showboat at the inauguration of the Cairo Opera House in the late 1980s, Mrs. Saddam Hussein was in the audience, sitting in the President’s box with Egypt’s president and first lady,” said Dr. Uscher. “I also had a long one-on-one conversation with Leonard Bernstein in Jerusalem, Israel, in 1982 [after] he had conducted an orchestra in which I was playing. That continues to be a very special memory for me.”

With an appreciation for Bach, Brahms, Beethoven (and the Beatles!), as well as contemporary music and a broad and diverse range of music, Dr. Uscher says being a musician opened up a love for all of the arts. Hippocrates once said, “Art is long, life is short,” so she forged a new path, bridging her music talent with teaching.

She went on to give master classes and seminars internationally, write several articles, and author The Schirmer Guide to Schools of Music and Conservatories Throughout the World and Your Own Way in Music: A Career and Resource Guide.

After a dozen years at the University of New Mexico as Professor of Music and Associate Provost, seven years as Provost and music faculty member of the California Institute of the Arts, and five years in Seattle as President of Cornish College of the Arts, she and her husband, writer William P. Barrett, landed in Las Vegas in 2016.

“When I was eight, I came to Las Vegas with my family from the East Coast,” said Dr. Uscher. “I remember how exciting it was to see Carol Channing in a show, and my father won $16 in dimes from a slot machine! I thought Las Vegas was very glamorous.”

But what’s a violist who has worked all over the world doing in Las Vegas?

“Las Vegas is a world center for the arts and entertainment,” said Dr. Uscher. “We can make things happen in Las Vegas that are distinctive, innovative, impactful, and that will lead the arts in the rest of the world. It is a very unique place with huge potential in developing the arts. It is a place of great and exciting possibilities! That is the joy of being here, to explore what is possible!”

Right now, the College of Fine Arts has approximately 2,500 majors, both undergraduate and graduate students, and a number of minors and others who take courses in the college. There are also more than 200 faculty between full-time and part-time colleagues.

When Dr. Uscher first came on board as Dean, it was important for her to craft a “strategic plan and blueprint” to forge a pathway forward.

“We value difference, kindness, discovery, inclusion, empathy, joy, and a sense of generosity,” said Dr. Uscher. “The plan provides us a direction for the future and a common set of goals to celebrate as we create a pathway forward for the years to come.”

During her tenure, she taught that by making art together, students can better understand the goodness they add to society—which she believes is “the health and well-being of society.”

In just seven years, Dr. Uscher has overseen partnerships, such as the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the School of Music but won’t stop there.

“We are starting an initiative to bring the arts into Nevada’s women’s prisons and correctional facilities,” added Dr. Uscher. “We have [also] brought art students to teach art classes in a homeless youth shelter, and we are starting a mariachi program in the future, which is a strong way to connect with our community. We want to bring people together, and we can do this in beautiful and rich ways. We should be open to new ideas as a way of life!”

It is no surprise that she has made an incredible impact on the community of Las Vegas, specifically at the university level.

“Community is incredibly important to UNLV, and I feel so committed to this goal and social justice,” said Dean Uscher. “I have tried to look at the future of the arts with excitement, optimism, and a sense of adventure. I want our students to feel empowered, explore possibilities, and feel that they deeply matter and will be a force for good in the world. Their contributions will be significant, and they will succeed in reaching their goals. Our students are truly special, talented, hard-working, discerning about the world, confident and resilient!”

The CFA celebrates luminaries in the arts every year with its Annual Hall of Fame. Last year, they honored Dionne Warwick, while this year’s 19th celebration saluted actor/comedian Brad Garrett and actor/UNLV professor of film and theatre Clarence Gilyard. (I got to attend in 2021 when Ann-Margret was inducted!)

But with so many schools, disciplines, and moving parts, I was curious how she made her role as Dean uniquely Dr. Nancy Uscher.

“I think every leader should authentically build on one’s individual strengths and attributes,” said Dr. Uscher. “There are many ways to be a leader, and that is very exciting…I also think that artists can make fine leaders because of a certain intuitive understanding of the world, a close connection to creativity, and seeing what others don’t necessarily see. I love to reflect on the authenticity that each of us brings to what we do in life.”

As a future-focused Dean, she is excited to see society’s increasing global awareness about the critical importance of having the arts in our lives. She says it is imperative to continue nurturing and supporting young talent.

“It is absolutely wonderful to nurture young talent and help young people develop their talents,” affirms Dr. Uscher. “It gives them healthy and positive connections to the world and helps them see that hard work leads to a feeling of mastery and accomplishment. Participating in the arts keeps young people busy in such a constructive and collaborative way. It builds their self-esteem and confidence and provides opportunities to meet others and form new friendships and bonds.”

The Dean says she has always been a believer in agelessness. She still performs and makes music when an opportunity arises (“I recently played in a music festival in Austria with our UNLV students, and it was just as exciting and meaningful to me now as it has ever been.”), but doesn’t teach at this time—except when invited to guest lecture.

She is also currently President of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans, an organization with Deans from around the world coming together to support and share ideas.

Dr. Uscher also has a daughter following in her footsteps. Dr. Alessandra Barrett Erickson is a violist and violinist who teaches and performs in Seattle and just earned her doctorate at the University of Washington.

Life has NEVER been more of an adventure, says the Dean, so the “R” word (retirement) rarely, if ever, comes up.

“What matters most is an individual’s spirit, which transcends chronological age. Spirit has no limits,” said Dr. Uscher. “Agelessness helps us focus on what really matters: that each individual can make a real difference in this world at any stage of life. That is exhilarating and shows us that there are vast possibilities when it comes to the good we can do and the fresh, original, and enduring contributions we can make throughout our lives.”

Hearing that she was included in this Chic Compass Legacy issue was music to her ears (pun intended!). Dr. Uscher says she is proud to tell people worldwide that she lives and works in Las Vegas and is honored to be recognized in this way.

“I hope that my legacy will be one of service, academic excellence for artists, distinguished scholarship in the College of Fine Arts, and joyous celebration of the arts,” said Dr. Uscher. “I believe that our students have the potential to become leaders in their disciplines and education. I want them to be aware of the possibilities available to them, and I am also there to help however possible. We must continue to discuss the profound importance of the arts to a healthy society.”

Las Vegas certainly hit the jackpot with this gifted lady. But I had one last question: What would the title be if her devoted husband were to write her biography?

“I try to attend college and community events as much as possible,” said the dedicated Dean. “That means not getting home sometimes until quite late at night. So his title would be Shall I Leave the Light On For You?”

Now Dean Uscher, you may take a bow.