{"id":5764,"date":"2023-10-15T09:16:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T16:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/?p=5764"},"modified":"2026-08-30T20:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T03:54:37","slug":"dean-nancy-uscher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/dean-nancy-uscher\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean Nancy Uscher"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chic<\/span><\/div>
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This article was printed in<\/em>
\nChic Compass Magazine - Issue 16<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Photo of Dean Nancy Uscher by Joseph Donato (Cashman Photo)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Dean Nancy Uscher<\/h1>\n

Take a Bow<\/p>\n

BY STACEY GUALANDI<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cArts are the only tangible proof that mankind was not made for destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Nancy Uscher, as the Dean of UNLV\u2019s College of Fine Arts, certainly knows what she speaks of, but she didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I would share this sentiment,\u201d said the concert violist. \u201cThe arts are an essential and fundamental component of each person\u2019s life, as well as a meaningful contributor to the health and well-being of society\u2014from a global perspective\u2014for the long years to come on this planet, and perhaps other planets in the universe!\u201d<\/p>\n

Many would agree that Dr. Uscher\u2019s career is a work of art. With a decades-long devotion to music\u2014first through performing, then teaching, and now leading\u2014she has created a canvas for the arts to survive and thrive.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Dr. Uscher was named Dean of the College of Fine Arts at UNLV (\u201ca privilege\u201d), 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have enormous respect for all of our departments and schools in the College of Fine Arts,\u201d said a proud Dr. Uscher. \u201cI 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\u2014and how this fosters innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, working across disciplines is already paying off.<\/p>\n

In August, the UNLV students from the seven academic units in the CFA came together with faculty at this year\u2019s Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland to create the original work \u201cIs It Art?\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Dr. Uscher says it was a rare, transformative experience in tune with the college\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re about empowering and engaging our community to be visionary change makers through acts of imagination,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cThis 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\u2019re very proud that we could support this financially from a $1 million endowment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Nancy<\/span><\/div><\/div>

\u201cI feel my deepest responsibility is to serve others,\u201d admits Dr. Uscher. \u201cIt is also very important to share a sense of strong optimism about the future. Taking an academic pathway\u2014and my interest in academic leadership\u2014has provided a wonderful balance to my previous and fulfilling life as a performer and teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019 stereo system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a thrill, putting my ear next to the loudspeaker (it could not be too loud, or I would have woken my family up),\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cIt was a private moment for me to be completely immersed in the sound. I also recognized that Puccini\u2019s music reminded me of popular music of the times, and I realized that all music was somehow connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, it was her elementary school music teacher who connected a pre-teen Nancy with her first instrument.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

She picked up the viola several years later, especially loving the viola\u2019s role \u201cas an inner voice in a string quartet and other chamber music, as well as exploration of the solo literature for viola.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Ph.D. and distinguished alumni award from New York University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019s milestones,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Dean<\/span><\/div><\/div>

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.<\/p>\n

\u201c[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\u2019s box with Egypt\u2019s president and first lady,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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, \u201cArt is long, life is short,\u201d so she forged a new path, bridging her music talent with teaching.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was eight, I came to Las Vegas with my family from the East Coast,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s a violist who has worked all over the world doing in Las Vegas?<\/p>\n

\u201cLas Vegas is a world center for the arts and entertainment,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cWe 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!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Photo of Dean Nancy Uscher with Khajidsuren Bolormaa the First Lady of Mongolia<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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.<\/p>\n

When Dr. Uscher first came on board as Dean, it was important for her to craft a \u201cstrategic plan and blueprint\u201d to forge a pathway forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe value difference, kindness, discovery, inclusion, empathy, joy, and a sense of generosity,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her tenure, she taught that by making art together, students can better understand the goodness they add to society\u2014which she believes is \u201cthe health and well-being of society.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are starting an initiative to bring the arts into Nevada\u2019s women\u2019s prisons and correctional facilities,\u201d added Dr. Uscher. \u201cWe 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!\u201d<\/p>\n

It is no surprise that she has made an incredible impact on the community of Las Vegas, specifically at the university level.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunity is incredibly important to UNLV, and I feel so committed to this goal and social justice,\u201d said Dean Uscher. \u201cI 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!\u201d<\/p>\n

The CFA celebrates luminaries in the arts every year with its Annual Hall of Fame. Last year, they honored Dionne Warwick, while this year\u2019s 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!)<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI think every leader should authentically build on one\u2019s individual strengths and attributes,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cThere are many ways to be a leader, and that is very exciting\u2026I 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\u2019t necessarily see. I love to reflect on the authenticity that each of us brings to what we do in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a future-focused Dean, she is excited to see society\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is absolutely wonderful to nurture young talent and help young people develop their talents,\u201d affirms Dr. Uscher. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dean says she has always been a believer in agelessness. She still performs and makes music when an opportunity arises (\u201cI 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.\u201d), but doesn\u2019t teach at this time\u2014except when invited to guest lecture.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Photo of Dean Nancy Uscher with her daughter Dr. Alessandra Barrett Erickson <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Life has NEVER been more of an adventure, says the Dean, so the \u201cR\u201d word (retirement) rarely, if ever, comes up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat matters most is an individual\u2019s spirit, which transcends chronological age. Spirit has no limits,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cAgelessness 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d said Dr. Uscher. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to attend college and community events as much as possible,\u201d said the dedicated Dean. \u201cThat means not getting home sometimes until quite late at night. So his title would be Shall I Leave the Light On For You?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Dean Uscher, you may take a bow.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Dr. Nancy Uscher, as the Dean of UNLV\u2019s College of Fine Arts, certainly knows what she speaks of, but she didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4522,4015],"tags":[4041,3128,701],"class_list":["post-5764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-issue-16","tag-dean-nancy-uscher","tag-stacey-gualandi","tag-unlv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5764"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5828,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5764\/revisions\/5828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}