Artist-Teacher of Jazz and Contemporary Music (JCM) Voice

Status: Part-time, in-person

Reports to: Dean, Chair of Jazz and Contemporary Music

Supervises: N/A

Description

Longy School of Music of Bard College prepares graduate students to make a difference in the world through their artistry. Our student-centered curriculum empowers musicians to pursue bold projects, challenge conventions, and build multifaceted careers through meaningful, real-world experiences.

Longy seeks dynamic and innovative artist-teachers to join our Jazz and Contemporary Music (JCM) Department, mentoring graduate vocalists as performers, improvisers, and creative leaders. Ideal candidates bring diverse professional experiences across jazz, jazz-adjacent, and contemporary popular music traditions, along with a passion for helping students discover their artistic identities, expand their musical versatility, and prepare for entrepreneurial careers.

Teaching opportunities include private studio instruction and classroom courses, particularly JCM Vocal Jazz Workshop, emphasizing repertoire and stylistic development, and Leading the Band, focusing on arranging, bandleading, and collaborative performance. We welcome versatile educators and specialists with strengths in vocal performance, improvisation, repertoire development, and/or bandleading. Multiple appointments may be made, with responsibilities reflecting individual expertise and departmental needs.

Job Responsibilities

• Provide innovative, weekly, hour-long private voice lessons to graduate-level musicians, emphasizing vocal artistry, stylistic versatility, improvisation, and individualized artistic development.
• Design and deliver engaging classroom instruction, workshops, and performance-based learning experiences in vocal jazz, contemporary styles, repertoire development, arranging, and bandleading.
• Mentor students in developing their artistic identities, building personal repertoires, strengthening improvisational and collaborative skills, and preparing diverse professional opportunities.
• Utilize a holistic, student-centered pedagogical approach, emphasizing student competence and agency.
• Guide and evaluate student performances, including first-year recitals, graduate recitals, and end-of-semester course performances, offering constructive and individualized feedback throughout the creative process.
• Participate in student admission auditions, recital preparation, dress rehearsals, and other departmental activities as appropriate to the appointment.
• Actively support the recruitment of talented graduate voice students and contribute to raising the visibility of Longy and its JCM Department.
• Incorporate Longy's mission of preparing musicians to make a difference in the world into teaching, mentorship, and artistic practice.
• Propose and teach additional courses, workshops, or creative projects aligned with individual expertise and departmental priorities as opportunities arise.

Qualifications

Qualified candidates will demonstrate an outstanding record as a performer and educator, along with a multifaceted artistic career that reflects engagement with a variety of musical styles, creative projects, and professional settings. We are particularly interested in candidates who demonstrate:

• Expertise in jazz, jazz-adjacent, and/or contemporary popular vocal traditions, with a strong understanding of relevant performance practices and stylistic approaches.
• Experience teaching or mentoring advanced vocalists, with an ability to meet students where they are and support individualized artistic and professional growth.
• Skills in vocal improvisation, repertoire development, arranging, bandleading, and/or collaborative music-making.
• A creative, student-centered approach to teaching that fosters curiosity, artistic independence, and experimentation.
• A commitment to preparing musicians for varied, evolving careers and to contributing meaningfully to an inclusive and collaborative educational community.
• Candidates need not demonstrate equal expertise across all areas of instruction. Teaching assignments will reflect individual strengths and departmental needs.
• A degree in music or demonstrated equivalent professional experience is required.

To Apply

Please submit a resume or curriculum vitae, including links to relevant recordings, albums, and/or performances, along with a cover letter through Longy's career portal.

Applicants should describe their artistic and teaching experience, areas of instructional expertise, and interest in contributing to Longy's JCM Department. Cover letters must specifically address Longy's mission and vision and explain how the candidate's approach to teaching and mentorship aligns with our educational philosophy. Applications that do not address the mission will not be considered.

About Longy School of Music of Bard College

Music belongs to everyone, everywhere. No matter who you are, your music has the power to strengthen communities, restore mind and body, and drive social change. But it's personal. That's why at Longy School of Music, we don't prescribe your studies. Instead, we empower you to curate your own artistic journey, create new career possibilities, and blow the traditional canon wide open. Here, making music personal, accessible, and relevant is at the heart of everything we do.

Longy is a degree‐granting institution that serves over 350 graduate students at its Conservatory campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts and online. Founded as Longy School of Music in 1915 by renowned oboist Georges Longy, Longy is a conservatory with a social imperative, providing for all students a distinguished faculty that promotes profound musical understanding and technical prowess, encourages growth of imagination, and fosters inquiry about the role of music and the musician in society. Longy's mission is to prepare musicians to make a difference in the world.

Longy School of Music of Bard College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, marital or veteran status, or age. Longy values the diversity of its community.