The successful candidate will have a proven record of conducting excellence, outstanding musicianship, effective choral conducting experience at the university level or commensurate professional experience, and demonstrated success with recruiting, retaining, and mentoring undergraduate singers from diverse backgrounds. Direct experience with professional ensembles, either as a member or a leader, as well as experience working with volunteer singers of all levels is a plus. We are especially interested in candidates with a record of excellence in choral music and those who have a strong commitment to all aspects of inclusivity in our learning-centered community. A DMA or PhD degree is required. ABD is accepted but would need to be completed prior to start in Fall of 2025.
Application Process
Applicants will submit the following electronically:
1) cover letter;
2) CV;
3) list of at least three professional references;
4) statement to include documentation of success in various choral settings, ideally involving adults, volunteers, and/or other symphony choruses, and how that experience could contribute to the success of the Houston Symphony Chorus and the mission of the Houston Symphony; and
5) a link to a live video recording of about ten minutes of a recent choral rehearsal and about ten minutes of a performance.
Please note - Interested applicants should submit materials for both the Houston Symphony and the University of Houston. The University of Houston application can be found here:
Initial screening of materials will begin on September 1, 2024, and will continue until the position is filled.
ABOUT THE HOUSTON SYMPHONY
Under Music Director Juraj Valčuha, the Houston Symphony continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring, and recording activities. One of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas, the Symphony held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an operating budget of $37.8 million, the full-time ensemble of professional musicians presents more than 130 concerts annually, making it the largest performing arts organization in Houston. Traditionally, musicians of the orchestra and the Symphony’s Community-Embedded Musicians also offer over 1,000 community-based performances each year at various schools, community centers, hospitals, and churches reaching more than 200,000 people in Greater Houston annually.
After suspending concert activities in March 2020, the Symphony successfully completed a full 2020–21 season with in-person audiences and weekly livestreams of each performance, making it one of the only orchestras in the world to do so. The Houston Symphony remains committed to livestreaming its current concert seasons to a broad audience in over forty-five countries and all fifty states, one of few American orchestras dedicated to transmitting live performances to a sizeable audience outside its home city through this technology.
The Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony has recorded under various prestigious labels, including Koch International Classics, Naxos, RCA Red Seal, Telarc, Virgin Classics, and, most recently, Dutch recording label Pentatone. In 2017, the Houston Symphony was awarded an ECHO Klassik award for the live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck under the direction of former Music Director Hans Graf. The orchestra earned its first Grammy nomination and Grammy Award at the 60th annual ceremony for the same recording in the Best Opera Recording category. The Symphony’s most recent recordings include a Pentatone release in January 2022 of its world premiere performances of Jimmy López Bellido’s Aurora and Ad Astra, and a Naxos release in July 2023 of its world premiere performance of Jennifer Higdon’s Duo Duel.
The Houston Symphony is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against otherwise qualified applicants on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, national origin, disability or handicap, veteran status, or any other protected class.
