Mission Statement

CVPA Facilities

Prospective Students

Dr. Timothy V. Blair
Dean, College of Visual and Performing Arts
Professor of Piano

Swope Music Building
Phone: 610-436-2739
tblair@wcupa.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Education
B.M. Susquehanna University;
M.M., New England Conservatory of Music;
D.M.A., Catholic University of America.

Dean Timothy Blair is completing his twelfth year as dean of West Chester University’s School of Music, the longest deanship in the history of the school.  In 2004, he was appointed the first dean of the newly formed College of Visual and Performing Arts, comprising 100 faculty and staff and approximately 1,000 students in art, theatre, dance, and music.  Prior to becoming dean of the School of Music, Dr. Blair served with distinction as a WCU associate professor of keyboard music. Recently, in addition to his duties as dean, he was appointed professor of piano by President Madeleine Wing Adler.

Among the many notable achievements and innovations of his tenure as dean are the Samuel Barber Institute for Music Educators, Apple Authorized Training Center for Education, Brandywine International Piano Institute, Samuel Barber International Music Festival, national and international art exhibits and performances by WCU students and faculty, and concerts by School of Music student ensembles and faculty at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts plus newly established Weill at Carnegie Hall Concerts in New York.  In addition, visual and performing arts students and faculty now have the outstanding new Swope Music Building and the Performing Arts Center to support and advance their own excellence, opening nearly limitless opportunities, and hosting audiences from throughout the region. 

Dr. Blair is a member of many professional organizations and also serves on numerous boards of the arts throughout the region and nation. Most recently, Dean Blair was offered and accepted the honor to serve on the Board of Visitors of
The New England Conservatory of Music. Current initiatives include leadership by Dean Blair in the multi million dollar effort to fully renovate facilities for the benefit and on behalf of the departments of Art, Theatre and Dance, while also pursuing national accreditation for the first time for these departments. Beginning in September of 2008, Dr. Blair, having established an educational partnership between The MET, Columbia Artists, and WCU, will bring LIVE FROM THE MET to WCU for the benefit of students, faculty, and all opera lovers throughout the region.

In 2004, under Dean Blair’s leadership and with the purchase of 111 new Steinway designed pianos, West Chester University became a prestigious All Steinway School, the first among Pennsylvania public colleges and universities.  As a Steinway artist himself,  pianist Timothy Blair performs in concerts around the world, including recent recitals in the Holywell Music Room, Oxford, England; Steinway Hall, New York; the Academy of Music, Philadelphia; the China Conservatory of Beijing; and Guizhou University, where he was appointed by the Chinese Government to the Guizhou University artist faculty.  His future concert schedule includes performances in Sicily, as well as at home in the WCU Performing Arts Center.

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