Passing the baton

VINNIE ZARLETTI BRINGS EXPERIENCE AND PERSPECTIVE TO COFA LEADERSHIP ROLE

By Nancy Zugschwert ’19 M.A.

When the College of Fine Arts (COFA) was formed in 2011, Larry Bach was the natural choice to serve as its first dean. In 2021, in anticipation of Bach’s retirement, the Senior Leadership Team named a successor, and Bach passed the leadership baton to Vincent (Vinnie) Zarletti ’02, D.W.S.

Zarletti serves as the COFA dean, but brings different skills and gifts than his predecessor. While he will fill Bach’s administrative role, his musical focus will stay in the worship arena, and a search is underway for a full-time faculty member who will serve as a choral conductor.

Zarletti knows there is a “Larry-shaped hole” that he can’t fill, but he doesn’t believe that’s expected of him. In a message Zarletti shared at an event during Bach’s farewell celebration April 4–6, Zarletti said, “I would like to just publicly say that Larry’s gonna take his shoes with him because they only fit him. And he has done such a great job walking in them. I don’t need those shoes. He can take them because I don’t have any business in those shoes at all.”

With incredible respect for Bach’s vision and what he did at and for NCU, Zarletti pointed out that it was never about doing the “same old thing” under Bach.

“What I think is unique about Larry’s leadership is that it’s been ever-evolving,” Zarletti pointed out. “He has established a culture that recognizes the value in a traditional, strong academic take on music—as you would receive in a conservatory—but he’s also been able to keep his ear to the ground for the changing trends in popular music and worship culture and keep moving ahead while holding the line on the academic standards that we want our students to have. If we follow Larry’s model, it doesn’t mean keep doing what we’ve always done because Larry hasn’t ever done what he’s always done!”

The adage says, “Familiarity breeds contempt,” but for Zarletti, familiarity with the person and talent of Larry Bach has bred nothing but respect. He pointed out that many in the North Central family—outside of the music world—may not know how esteemed Bach is outside of Elliot Park. He noted that Bach served for years as a singer and assistant conductor with the world-renowned Dale Warland singers and was a sought-after guest conductor for concerts and festivals worldwide.

“What has made Larry so unique is that he came with a credible classical music background as a world-class conductor,” Zarletti said. “He could have conducted anywhere he wanted to conduct.” Zarletti knows it was love that kept Bach at NCU, and that’s a legacy he wants to continue. “I understood that this guy was here because he wanted to be here,” Zarletti said. “This wasn’t just the job he could get.”