The Purcell School
| The Purcell School | |
| Summary: | Composition teaching post |
| Deadline: | 24 August 2018 |
| Date Posted: | 01 August 2018 |
| Details: |
As a boarding school, a specialist music organisation and a charity we have a diverse team of staff working across many dedicated areas in Music, Academics, Pastoral, Fundraising, Maintenance and Housekeeping, to name but a few. There is currently one vacancy. Composition Department Assistant and International Competition Manager Two year post initially (full-time, term-time only) For September 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter Closing date: Friday 24th August Administrator of the International Composition Prize (name TBC) This will form 20% of the successful applicant’s workload. The competition will be the focal point for the development of an educational initiative to train teachers and young composers with the skills necessary to teach, write and, therefore, share original music with a wider public. The programme aims to increase awareness of music composition as a valuable form of expression and, therefore, worthy of being incorporated into the curriculum in schools and higher education institutions. The competition will be launched for a pilot year which will target entries from the Commonwealth and a broader international category. The aim is to expand over the following years. The successful candidate will carry out all the administrative functions of managing the competition, accepting and sorting entries, liaison with judges and with the founding partner organisations (ABRSM and The Commonwealth Resounds), under the line-management of Alison Cox (Founder-Trustee of The Commonwealth Resounds and Head of Composition and Outreach at The Purcell School). Website-management skills will be essential. Composition Assistant at The Purcell School This will form 80% of the successful applicant’s workload. The Purcell School’s Composition Department consists annually of some 12-15 first-study composers, up to 30 who are studying composition as a first or second study and all students from Years 6-13 who study composition in class or as an examination subject. The Composition Assistant will be required to be present in composition classes with Alison Cox (and occasionally with other composition tutors) to help with mentoring, logistics, photocopying, scores and parts, assessment and documentation, recording, compiling examination material, maintaining resources and assisting with all aspects of IT. Examination work (Years 10, 12 and 13) There is a particularly heavy examination workload involving Year 10 (who take iGCSE Music one year early) and Years 12-13 (Pre-U Music – all aspects of the course involving composition). Normally we have approximately 25-30 students in Year 10 and up to 45 in each of the Year 12/13 groups. Almost every student in these three year-groups needs individual mentoring and support in composition – some much more than others. Alison Cox and the Composition Assistant will work together to support the individual needs of all these students. Year 11 This group has a bespoke music programme which involves training in outreach-based composition for mixed ability and creative music technology. The Composition Assistant will help facilitate these programmes. Year 9 This is not an examination year-group, so there is more freedom. Students’ composition work is often based around three projects (one per term), which can be exciting and interesting for them. Alison Cox annually structures this course around the individual strengths of each Year 9 group. She will also discuss this carefully with the Composition Assistant who will be encouraged to create and run (under supervision) one of the three projects. Lower School Students in the three groups – Years 6, 7 and 8 – are all allocated one hour per week to study composition in small classes. Those who struggle need extra mentoring outside class: this will be done partly by Alison Cox and partly by the Composition Assistant. Each year the school runs a series of Concert Celebrations, a key project for the Lower School, where each class chooses a theme, composes the music, rehearses and performs the pieces in a series of special concerts throughout one or two days. The event is competitive between year-groups. One group receives the Concert Celebration Trophy at the end of term, based on the quality of their work and effort throughout the project. The Composition Assistant, Alison Cox and John Goldie-Scot (Academic Music Teacher/ Composer for 2018/19) will each work specifically with one year-group, although Alison will oversee them all. The Composition Department Assistant will also • run the Lower School Composition Seminar, overseen Head of Composition • oversee and maintain the Purcell School’s computers in the Composition Classroom, Office and in the Composition Teaching Room in consultation with the Music Technology Assistant • help with all IT and photocopying logistics re the weekly Composition Seminars for first-study composers • oversee and maintain the Composition Office as an efficient work/study environment for staff and occasionally students, too. |
| Web Site: | www.purcell-school.org/about-us/staff-vacancies/ |
