Title: Assistant Director, Education and Community Engagement
Reports to: Director of Artistic Planning and Education
Overview
A member of the artistic and education team, the Assistant Director, Education and Community Engagement, will provide leadership to connect H&H to the community through its education and community programs. The Assistant Director will manage the Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Programs, which encompass four components: The Vocal Apprenticeship Program (VAP) youth choruses, the Collaborative High School Concerts, the High School Soloists, and the Vocal Quartet School visits. In addition, the Assistant Director will oversee H&H’s programs at MIT and area colleges and its community engagement programs and lectures. In this position, the Assistant Director will:
i) Help H&H carry out its strategic initiatives by identifying program types and formats that engage audiences, offer multiple perspectives and create opportunities for participation;
ii) Spearhead strategic partnerships to secure new audiences;
iii) Work with marketing and development teams to secure program funding and sponsorships; and
iv) Ensure smooth and efficient program logistics and promotion of education programs and community initiatives.
Primary Duties and and Responsibilities
Education
1. Oversee and manage all education and community engagement programs which include: VAP (including the oversight and administration of VAP rehearsals which take place on Saturdays during the school calendar year); School Visits; Collaborative High School Concerts; Soloists and scholarship awards; the program for students at MIT and area colleges.
2. Monitor and evaluate the educational offerings to ensure that programs meet the highest professional standards of innovation, quality, relevance, students and audience engagement. Encourage programs that are creative, effective, and cutting-edge. Recommend and implement changes and improvements. Participate in overall H&H evaluations and planning processes.
3. Supervise the Educational Outreach Department staff (currently faculty of 14 and 1 intern). Within the budget, hire, evaluate, manage, and mentor staff in order to meet departmental goals for educational programming, audience development, and diversity.
4. Develop and submit education department budget for approval by the CEO. Monitor the budget and meet bottom-line targets. Oversee education grant budgets and project requirements in collaboration with Institutional Giving Manager. Submit payroll to Finance for education staff.
Community Engagement
5. Manage the planning and implementation of community outreach performances, lectures and public-education programs and events, including those which enhance performances, and those for adults, visitors, and families.
6. Collaborate with artistic, education and marketing teams on performances, public lectures, and programs, to ensure the creativity, highest-caliber, and accessibility of programs, as well as their alignment with H&H’s mission to HIP. Help embed education offerings within the brand and the organizational identity.
Strategic Plan
7. Implement long term strategic goals for education and outreach programs to maximize recruitment and attendance and to position H&H as a unique and successful program provider for the greater Boston area.
8. Analyze program types based on strategic goals to determine benefits and propose recommendations. Identify, establish, and evaluate collaborations and partnerships in keeping with institutional strategic priorities.
9. Regularly communicate strategies and outcomes internally and externally, and report on progress toward long term goals to leadership Education Board Committee.
Development, Advocacy, and Communication
10. Schedule the Board Education Committee meetings; plan and oversee Board members’ work and engagement to further the cause of H&H’s education and outreach programs.
11. Collaborate with development staff to acquire the resources – including grants and gifts – deemed necessary to maintain and enhance department programs, carry out the mission, and meet H&H goals.
12. Manage components of Bicentennial education and outreach activities.
13. Sustain effective communication and collaboration with community and educational organizations in order to reach new audiences. Collaborate on texts for H&H’s publications to help maintain high levels of creativity in content and presentation.
14. Advise and be a sounding-board for H&H on education matters. Prepare timely reports for senior management and the Board. Attend staff and management meetings as required.
15. Oversee maintenance and updating of the Department’s information on the website.
16. Support H&H’s events, education as well as other events, by attending when appropriate.
17. Other duties as assigned.
Education
Bachelor’s degree in music education and/or equivalent professional experience; advanced degree preferred.
Qualifications and Experience
1. Minimum of five years of successful experience managing education, outreach and community programming, projects and activities. Knowledge of baroque and classical repertoire necessary;
2. Excellent interpersonal and writing/communications skills. Ability to clearly and persuasively advocate for support of education to diverse constituencies;
3. Strategic vision and attention to details a must;
4. History of successful work with volunteers, children, educators and parents;
5. Leadership and management skills to effectively oversee, mentor and motivate staff, and work as a team player in a fast-paced environment;
6. Cultural sensitivity, ability to adapt to diverse personalities and demonstrated commitment to the highest standards of professionalism, excellence, and integrity;
7. Entrepreneurial, self-motivated, and results-oriented.
Position requires occasional lifting of heavy printed materials, large boxes, and retail merchandise as well as the repetitive, daily use of a computer. Handel and Haydn Society is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to diversity in the workplace by maintaining a staff that represents the traditions and voices of contemporary Boston. Interviews will not be scheduled until we have diverse pool of candidates from which to select.
COMPENSATION: Competitive benefits and salary, commensurate with experience.
PLEASE SEND COVER LETTER AND RESUME BY OCTOBER 26, 2012 TO:
Ira Pedlikin, Director of Artistic Planning and Education
Handel and Haydn Society
300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
ira@handelandhaydn.org
No phone calls, please.
ABOUT THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY
Founded in Boston in 1815, the Handel and Haydn Society (H&H) is considered America’s oldest continuously performing arts organization and will celebrate its Bicentennial in 2015. Its Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus are internationally recognized in the field of Historically Informed Performance, using the instruments and techniques of the composer’s time. Under Artistic Director Harry Christophers’ leadership, H&H’s mission is to enrich life and influence culture by performing Baroque and Classical music at the highest levels of artistic excellence, and by providing engaging, accessible and broadly inclusive music education and training activities. H&H’s Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus present live and recorded historically informed performances of this repertoire in ways that stimulate the musical and cultural development of our Greater Boston community and contemporary audiences across the nation and beyond.
H&H’s esteemed tradition of innovation and excellence began in the 19th century with the US premieres of Handel’s Messiah (1818), Haydn’s The Creation (1819), Verdi’s Requiem (1878), and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (1879). In 1967, Artistic Director Thomas Dunn transformed the chorus into a small, expert ensemble, and in 1986, Christopher Hogwood became Artistic Director and added period instrument performances. Music Director Grant Llewellyn (2001–2006) and Artistic Advisor Sir Roger Norrington (2006–2008) continued this tradition, as Harry Christophers, appointed in 2008, does today.
H&H is widely known through its concert series, tours, WGBH/99.5 Classical, NPR, and American Public Media broadcasts, and recordings. Its nine-program series, held at Symphony and Jordan Halls in Boston and Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, reaches 2,700 subscribers and 15,500 single ticket buyers from throughout New England. The orchestra comprises a core group of period instrument specialists and the chorus is a fully professional ensemble. H&H consistently presents world-renowned guest artists.
H&H places a high priority on its role as educator, resource center, and community partner. As it entertains and inspires audiences, its development expands to unique educational experiences for people of all ages. It includes all citizens in the community through broad outreach efforts. Established in 1985, H&H’s award-winning Karen S. and George D. Levy Educational Outreach Program reaches 10,000 students each year throughout Greater Boston, many in underserved communities. H&H also maintains partnerships with area cultural and higher education institutions, including Boston Public Library; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; New England Conservatory; and Harvard University.
