Position Detail - Lecturer in Music; Director of the Five College Early Music Program

The Department of Music at Mount Holyoke College seeks a full-time Lecturer and Director of the Five College Early Music Program. This is a three-year renewable appointment beginning July 1, 2023. The position entails directing the Five College Early Music Program Collegium, teaching two 4-credit classes per academic year, and providing artistic and administrative direction for the Early Music Program as a whole. 

Founded in 1979, the Five College Early Music Program (EMP) is a collaboration among schools, programs, and teachers in the Five College Consortium comprising Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to offer students and affiliates the opportunity to explore the rich and diverse music, musical practices, and cultures before ca. 1750. Participants may take private lessons, participate in chamber music courses or larger ensembles, or study historical dance, under the guidance of instructors especially trained in the field of Historically Informed Performance in Early Music. In addition to regular concerts of its own ensembles, EMP hosts and co-hosts performances and residencies by professional Early Music performers and ensembles, across Five College campuses. The position is based at Mount Holyoke College and presently led by an interim part-time Program Director and a steering committee whose membership includes faculty from each of the Music Departments of the Five Colleges.

Primary responsibilities:

As a lecturer in music, the candidate will be responsible teaching four courses each year: the EMP’s flagship ensemble (2 courses) and one academic course per semester (2 courses).

As the leader of the EMP ensembles, the director oversees the overall operation of the program’s various activities (smaller ensembles affiliated with the program, workshops, etc.). The EMP director promotes the program’s offerings, and oversees the Arthur Loeb Early Music Instrument Collection. The Director will also work  with faculty in the Five Colleges in coordinating teaching, programming performances, conferences, and other programs.

Preferred qualifications:

A Master’s degree is required. College and/or professional experience is desired. Commitment to liberal arts education, the ability to contribute to the wider educational aims of the Five Colleges and Mount Holyoke College Music Department, and the capacity to reflect the College's commitment to diversity through repertory choices and curriculum are essential.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a record of excellence as a specialist in early music performance, balanced with evidence of dedication to effective teaching and recruitment in a higher education environment. In addition to substantial experience with leading instrumental and vocal ensembles, the candidate will demonstrate experience and success in creating and/or collaborating on a variety of performances of early music in both vocal and instrumental repertories. Experience in working with students and communities with diverse musical backgrounds and skill levels, including those seeking pre-professional training, is essential.

The successful candidate will demonstrate competence in working with students who are broadly diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, and religion.

Review of completed digital dossiers will begin on March 6th, 2023, and continue until the position is filled.  Please do not send hard copy material.

Application Material:

Please submit:

1. A one-page letter of interest directly addressing the expectations of the position

2. A curriculum vitae

3. A one-page statement of the candidate’s teaching philosophy

4. A one-page statement about mentoring a diverse student body

5. A PDF with web links to at least one rehearsal and one performance. If the candidate is conducting, at least one of these should be filmed from the perspective of an ensemble member. (Please upload this PDF to the "Research Interests" section of the application.)

6. Contact information for three references 

Reference letters will be requested at a later date in the search process. We will begin reviewing applications on March 6th, 2023. Questions should be directed to Prof. Adeline Mueller (amueller@mtholyoke.edu).

The Department:

The Mount Holyoke College Music department's robust program comprises performance, theory, history, composition, ethnomusicology, and music technology.

In line with the curricular expectations of a liberal arts college, our courses are designed to help students make connections between theory and performance and understand how historical and cultural contexts shape musical styles and practices. The diversity of our course offerings is reflected in the scope of the musical traditions that we teach, including popular music, jazz, Western classical music, non-Western music traditions, and electronic and computer music.

Mount Holyoke is an undergraduate liberal arts college with 2,200 students and 220 faculty. Over half the faculty are women; one-fourth are persons of color. Mount Holyoke College is located about 90 miles west of Boston in the Connecticut River valley, and is a member of the Five College Consortium consisting of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts.

Mount Holyoke College is a women’s college that is gender diverse. The College is committed to providing equal access and opportunity in employment and education to all employees and students. In compliance with state and federal law, Mount Holyoke College does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, genetic information, sex, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, ancestry, veteran or military status, or any other legally protected status under federal, state or local law. The College does not discriminate on the basis of gender in the recruitment and admission of students to its graduate program.

All offers of employment are contingent upon the finalist successfully passing a background (including criminal records) check.