Job Description

Location: Chicago, IL **Background**

For 65 years, Chicago Children's Choir (Josephine Lee, President & Artistic Director) has worked to inspire, unite and change the lives of diverse youth through music. CCC began as a small choir in the Hyde Park Neighborhood in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement to foster racial understanding and has grown into a nonprofit with an international footprint that is Chicago's premier arts education and youth performing arts organization. CCC serves 4,900 singers from all of Chicago's 57 zip codes through a vast network of 144 choirs that bridge cultural and economic divides to nurture future ambassadors of empathy, equity and understanding.

In a traditional year, CCC partners with 92 schools to provide choral music education, administers 12 community-based aferschool choirs and is home to the internationally acclaimed Voice of Chicago. As a national and international touring ensemble, CCC has performed for dinitaries such as former President Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and former Chinese President Hu Jintao and with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Andrea Bocelli, Beyonc, Celine Dion and Chance the Rapper. CCC also regularly partners with Chicago Lyric Opera, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Ravinia Festival.

Over the past year, CCC has thrived, creating high quality online programs and virtual content that brings hope and light to audiences across the globe.

CCC is a civic treasure and model for urban music education with 79% of families able to access our programming at no cost and 31% of singers participating at a partially subsidized cost, relative to their household income.

**Opportunity**

Conductors for Chicago Children's Choir serve a vital role as part of our music faculty. They have the unique opportunity to work with singers in School and Neighborhood Programs throughout the city of Chicago, inclusive of families from a wide variety of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Conductors also have the opportunity to collaborate with educators of over 15 part-time and full-time music faculty with world-class training and professional experience in music education, performance, ethnomusicology, commercial music, musical theater and dance. Our faculty also engages in ongoing professional development on a wide range of topics from Trauma Informed Care to World Music Pedagogy. There is much that our conductors ot only give to their students, but also gain as educators and musicians in the CCC community.

Our conductors help facilitate student learning through organization-wide curricula such as Black History Month, Canto Latino and Paint the Town Red, in addition to assisting in the development, evaluation and documentation of such curricula. Faculty members also engage in smaller-scale performance learning projects with their individual School Programs and Neighborhood Choirs, including but not limited to, school assemblies, community concerts and performances, choral festivals both within and outside of CCC and our annual Bridging America Tours. From time to time, conductors may also be called upon to assist with special collaborations with other musical organizations such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

**Chicago Children's Choir School and Neighborhood Choir Programs**

Chicago Children's Choir offers choral programs in 92 Chicago elementary and middle schools. Arts and education varies significantly throughout the city of Chicago; CCC is proud to partner with many schools to build, expand or begin the choral experience through our School Program. Most schools hire CCC to provide instruction for one or two choirs, one or two times per week. The Director of School and Community Partnerships works with the conductor to set individual schedules. Conductors work collaboratively to set and implement the curriculum across all School Programs.

The Neighborhood Choir program provides beginning, intermediate and advanced choral training to over 800 students with treble voices in 3rd grade and up through programs in 12 Chicago neighborhoods. Neighborhood Choirs meet two times per week while some programs having one weeknight rehearsal and one Saturday rehearsal while others have two weeknight rehearsals. Conductors work collaboratively to set Neighborhood Choir curriculum but also have a great deal of autonomy to create a choral experience that fits their unique teaching style and repertoire choices.

**Key Responsibilities**

**Musical and Educational:**

* Facilitate student learning in assigned choirs, incorporating the curriculum set forth by CCC faculty in addition to individually-selected repertoire.

* Teach choral music through a lens of cultural responsiveness and authenticity, maintaining a dedication to equity and anti-racism.

* Maintain rigorous learning and performance standards.

* Facilitate auditions at each assigned School Program and Neighborhood Choir location.

* Prepare choirs for, and participate in, performance events throughout the year.

* Administer singer assessments twice yearly for School Programs and Neighborhood Choirs and use associated data to inform instructional practice.

**Community Engagement, Communication and Relationship Building:**

* Communicate regularly with school and community partners to ensure the best possible experiences for all stakeholers.

* Communicate effectively with familes in order to foster deep and meaningful relationships with CCC.

* Recruit singers for participation in CCC programs.

* Maintain ensemble numbers that allow for productive and successful learning experiences for all singers.

* Educate families on opportunities for growth within the Choir and assist with promotion into more advanced CCC ensembles. when appropriate.

**Organizational Support and Administrative****:**

* Actively participate in meetings, professional development workshops and staff training as scheduled.

* Communicate regularly with administrative staff to ensure equitable experiences amongst all programs.

* Attend and assist with organization-wide events and events involving other School Programs and Neighborhood Choirs.

**Qualifications:**

* Strong choral music educator and conductor capable of teaching diverse music through culturally responsive methodologies.

* Dedication to anti-racism and equity.

* Passion for working with diverse youth ages 8-18 and for fostering deep and authentic relationships with their families and commubnities.

* Minimum of a bachelor's degree in music (master's degree and major in choral music education or choral conducting preferred).

* Experience teaching music.

* Experience working with children and youth from diverse backgrounds is preferred.

* Commitment to collaboration in a team of fellow music educators, as part of a larger organizational staff and with families and community partners in a mission-driven environment.

* Creativity, flexibility, self-motivation, energy and enthusiasm for this vitally important work.

**"OTR" Life Experience:**

We know that many of your most character-building experiences -- where resilience, grit and grace were required to persevere -- do not show up neatly on a resume. So, we want to hear some of the "OTR" ("off the resume") moments from you. In order to be on the CCC team,. EQ (Emotional Intelligence) is not a nice-to-have...it's a must. So, show us your EQ.

**A Not-So-Fun Fact:**

We know research tells us that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and people of color tend to only apply when they feel they've checked every single box. If you are unsure that you've checked every box above, but you think you have what it takes to enhance the CCC as we grow our team, we want to hear from you.

Compensation and Benefits: Competitive salary with benefits for full-time employees including paid time off, medical, dental and life insurance and tax-deferred retirement plan.

Chicago Childrens

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