People in the Arts: Shakeh Ghoukasian

By Kristen Peterson (contact)

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Steve Marcus

Shakeh Ghoukasian is dean of the Nevada School of the Arts and a Las Vegas Philharmonic violinist.

Name: Shakeh Ghoukasian, musician

Age: 46

Family: Married to Haik Goomroyan; they have an 11-year-old son, Peter.

Education: Bachelor’s and Master of Music degrees in performance from UNLV

Titles: Dean of Nevada School of the Arts, principal second violinist for Las Vegas Philharmonic, teacher.

Originally from: Yerevan, Armenia

Living in Las Vegas: “You’re given opportunities to do things you probably wouldn’t be able to do in a bigger city. You kind of find your niche. I have the best of all worlds. I still freelance. I still teach. I’m doing a little bit of everything and I enjoy all of it.”

Best part of teaching: “I’m learning. If I’m teaching, I’m learning. Each student is different. You learn how to find that connection with that student. I love working with teenagers. It’s fun to see them evolve into individual beings.”

Starting out: As a child, Ghoukasian was immersed in government-sponsored culture — ballet, opera, philharmonic. She attended music school until her family left Armenia in 1979 for Los Angeles. Ghoukasian spoke little English. Her first orchestral experience was playing in the pit orchestra for the Hollywood High production of “Mame.” She joined the American Youth Symphony.

Getting to Vegas: She met her husband while they were playing in a Romanian Gypsy folk ensemble. They married and moved to Las Vegas to work as freelance musicians. After completing her bachelor’s degree at UNLV, Ghoukasian started teaching at the Nevada School of the Arts in 1986 when she was a graduate student. She played with the now-defunct Nevada Symphony Orchestra and the Nevada Chamber Symphony and co-founded the Green Valley Chamber Music Festival with Enrico Elisi.

Culture in Vegas: “We have quite a bit going on here. I think people choose to not see it. We have guest performers and guest lecturers. But we have performances going on to empty audiences.”

On the Las Vegas Philharmonic: “We want to play orchestral music. Artistically, we all want that outlet, something other than playing commercial music for a living.”

Nevada School of the Arts: “We really raise the bar for students,” she says. Fewer than 10 percent are planning to pursue musical careers. “I have students who play so well, but they’re going into medicine or law and they’re happy. For many students, this is their second home. It’s a place where they belong, they feel safe, they can experience positiveness. You really develop a more sophisticated taste for things that are beautiful, things that are artistic.”

Students in music: “It’s their choice if they want to go into music. I don’t ask them. I don’t assume. I don’t want to influence their decision. It’s a tough road. Unless it’s an overwhelming desire, don’t do it. The market has grown smaller for classical musicians. You have to be your best. You can audition and hope you’re at the top of your game and compete against 1,000 other violinists for one job.”

Career in music: “I couldn’t think of doing anything else.”

Other interests: Reading, cooking, traveling. She leads workshops and master classes in various cities during the summer.

Sticking around? “I don’t have any plans to go anywhere at this point.”