How to find a music director?

[eLiturgist]

We may soon be in a situation where the sole music director at our parish will be moving to another job. There are many volunteers who sing at the various Masses, but we will need someone, at least part time, to coordinate, train, schedule, direct the choir, and sing at one or two Masses each weekend.

I have some very practical questions:

1. What is a reasonable pay rate and how many hours per week should we plan for this position?
2. How do you advertise? How do you interview candidates?
3. Can we reasonable expect one person to help volunteers in English and in Spanish?

Thanks for your help.

 

[mjdonnelly]

I would ask the person who is leaving to see if there are any recommendations, if not, try other parishes or schools in the area and see who their directors are. Usually people in the music field have many acquaintenances who could help.

 

[Scott_Waddell]

I couldn’t resist a shot here: Hire anyone willing to dump Marty Haugen, David Haas, et al “hymns”.

Scott

 

[CatholicNerd]

eLiturgist:

We may soon be in a situation where the sole music director at our parish will be moving to another job. There are many volunteers who sing at the various Masses, but we will need someone, at least part time, to coordinate, train, schedule, direct the choir, and sing at one or two Masses each weekend.

I have some very practical questions:

1. What is a reasonable pay rate and how many hours per week should we plan for this position?
2. How do you advertise? How do you interview candidates?
3. Can we reasonable expect one person to help volunteers in English and in Spanish?

Thanks for your help.

As far as the salary goes, I recommend checking this out agohq.org/profession/indexsalary.html . The American Guild of Organists is probably the most respected organization of organists/choir directors in this country, and 99.99 percent of the organists and choir directors out there who are worth their salt are members. The salary chart is a good place to start. Bring it up with your parish council and see if it’s acceptable.

You can advertise the position in “The American Organist” (the AGO publication) for a reasonable amount of money. Another thing that I’d do is ask any nearby colleges/universities with a music program if you can post the ad on one of their bulletin boards. I’m 19 and always looking for work, as are most music students. At EWU we have a giant bulletin board with a “Musicians Wanted” section. As far as the interviewing is concerned, I can’t really offer any advice I was fortunate enough to have the music director of the diocesan Cathedral in my choir at the University (he’s a grad student) and after he heard me play piano for a sectional he asked me to come in and play some stuff on the organ for him and I ended up getting hired. LOL. I can tell you this, though: good sightreading skills are absolutely necessary!!!

Now for the language thing… music transcends any language barrier, but if there are a lot of musicians who can only communicate/sing in Spanish, then I think it might be a good idea to hire a music director who can speak the language. Still, though, that should not be the final factor… I think that being a dedicated, Catholic musician faithful to the teachings of the Church regarding Sacred Music is the most important thing. The person who ends up getting the job needs to understand that being a church musician is not just a job – It truly is a vocation.