WINSTON-SALEM — University of North Carolina School of the Arts Chancellor John Mauceri says he is stepping down after seven years of leading the school.

Mauceri says he will stay at the school until June so a search committee can have plenty of time to find his replacement.

Mauceri says he wants more time to concentrate on writing and composing music. Before coming to the Winston-Salem school, Mauceri spent 15 years as a music professor at Yale University and has conducted 50 symphony orchestras.

During Mauceri's seven years at the arts school, it has increased its endowment by $14 million, or 60 percent. The school also secured its biggest ever one-time gift —$6 million from William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust to endow scholarships.