As director of the UCF School of the Performing Arts, Dr. Steven Chicurel-Stein is focused on enhancing the school’s strengths and showcasing those attributes to the community.
Previously an associate director of the School, Chicurel-Stein was appointed as interim director following director Jeffrey Moore’s recent promotion to the position of Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities.
Chicurel-Stein will oversee both music and theatre in his new role. “I’ve been teaching at universities for 25 years now, and I’ve always been a professor in theatre, but my degrees are in music. For me, it’s an easy fit—I understand the cultures of both music and theatre and I’m comfortable working within both worlds.”
To help the school become a preeminent arts education institute, Chicurel-Stein is focusing on excellence in programming, interdisciplinary experiences, curricular innovation, and community connectivity. “I was inspired by an article I read about [Johns Hopkins Peabody Conservatory Dean] Fred Bronstein who uses these concepts as pillars of planning. By strengthening our core arts with a focus on excellence and innovation, and then seeking connections in both the UCF and Central Florida communities, we can excel.”
“UCF has a wealth of resources. I want our faculty to connect with those riches. What resources exist that can make the art we create even better? And in exchange, how can our art improve other areas? Let’s make these connections,” says Chicurel-Stein.
Chicurel-Stein attended Mars Hill College, The Peabody Conservatory of Music/John Hopkins University, and the University of Kentucky, where he received his Bachelors, Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance, respectively. In 2013, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from Estill Voice International. He’s also the co-author of Geography of the Voice: Anatomy of an Adam’s Apple and Music Theory for Musical Theatre. He joined the UCF faculty in 2002 and is a former chair of the Theatre department.