Job Description / Duties

The Mary Pappert School of Music invites applications for a 9-month, full-time, tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Voice, beginning August 2024. The successful candidate will join an accomplished and talented music faculty of artists, scholars, and educators dedicated to serving students with a wide range of musical interests, degree program needs, and career goals. Sensitive to current trends in the field, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to inform and even transform the voice area’s approach to attracting voice majors and providing relevant and inclusive training and experience that propels students toward professional success in a dynamic and ever-changing musical landscape. We seek an energetic, creative, and profoundly collaborative colleague who will capitalize on the richness of Pittsburgh’s cultural institutions and musical scenes while maintaining a high profile of professional excellence and achievement in vocal performance and related areas at the national and/or international level.

The successful candidate will:

Deliver instruction in applied voice for both voice performance majors and non-majors, demonstrating a passion for teaching that extends across students’ ability levels, degree programs, and professional aspirations.

Advise and mentor voice performance majors.

Have a flexible, adaptable pedagogy that can address a variety of technical and stylistic requirements to help voice students discern their career trajectory and develop a wide-ranging skill set for a successful contemporary performance career.

Be able to teach courses related to studio voice, including diction, vocal pedagogy, and vocal literature.

Be able to create, direct, and supervise performance opportunities for students.

Provide evidence of advanced training and/or experience in vocal pedagogy at the collegiate level, potentially including presentations, clinics, and masterclasses; knowledge of voice science; experience with gender-expansive singers; and awareness of somatic pedagogies such as Alexander Technique, Body Mapping, or the Feldenkrais Method.

Have an ongoing and prominent record of excellence in professional performance experience at the national level or beyond in one or (preferably) multiple styles, including but not limited to classical music, contemporary commercial music, and musical theater genres.

Pursue research, performance, creative activity, and/or other professional accomplishments commensurate with a tenure-track position.

Have the professional communication and relational skills to develop productive partnerships with individuals, ensembles, organizations, and institutions within the school, university, city, region, and beyond to elevate the identity of the voice department and create beneficial opportunities for students and faculty.

Possess strong recruitment and retention skills, including willingness to build key relationships with K-12 teachers, voice teachers, and professional organizations at the local, regional, and national levels; participate vigorously in recruitment activities and take a leadership role in growing the voice area.

Be active in NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) as a general member and have a willingness to develop a NATS presence on our campus and for our students; participate in other regional and national professional associations as appropriate.

Demonstrate a commitment to creative collaboration, collegial problem-solving, and effective working relationships for the collective welfare of our music school and university communities.

Demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of the profession, including teaching and programming.

Serve on school and university committees.

Qualifications / Required Skills

Minimum Qualifications:

Applicants are required to possess either (1) a completed doctoral-level degree in vocal performance or a closely related field, or (2) professional experience and accomplishment as a vocal performer commensurate with that level of achievement.

Additionally successful candidates will possess:

Commitment to the University’s values of diversity, equity and inclusion, and recognition of the importance of treating each individual with dignity and respect consistent with the University’s Mission. Additionally, applicants must have demonstrated experience with, and understanding of, the broad diversity of the University community (students, faculty, staff and others).

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the University Community.

Ability and willingness to contribute actively to the mission of the University and to respect the Spiritan Catholic identity of Duquesne University. The mission is implemented through a commitment to academic excellence, a spirit of service, moral and spiritual values, sensitivity to world concerns, and an ecumenical campus community.

Additional Information

Application Instructions
Duquesne University uses Interfolio to collect all faculty job applications electronically. Complete materials include (1) a letter of application, (2) current curriculum vitae, (3) a 1–2 page statement of teaching philosophy, (4) evidence of successful teaching with college-level students, including advanced students, (5) a 1–2 page statement about the candidate’s professional agenda in performance, creative activity, and/or scholarship, (6) recent, representative recordings of the candidate’s vocal performance, and (7) contact information (e-mail addresses and phone numbers) for at least three current professional references.

Review of complete application materials will begin on January 9, 2024 and will continue until the position is filled. The anticipated employment date is August 1, 2024.

Please visit http://apply.interfolio.com/136080 to submit application materials.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Benjamin Binder, chair of the search committee, at binderb@duq.edu.

About the Mary Pappert School of Music

The Mary Pappert School of Music provides education for the musical leaders of the twenty-first century through challenging music degree programs for the mind, heart, and spirit. Founded in 1926, it celebrated its 95th anniversary in 2021. The school is named in honor of Mary Pappert after a bequest from the Pappert family in 1999. Our university motto, Spiritus Est Qui Vivificat—It is the Spirit Who Gives Life—inspires our classrooms, rehearsals, and concert venues. The school offers multiple degrees at the bachelor’s and master’s levels. The Mary Pappert School of Music is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. Further information about the school can be found at: duq.edu/music.

About Duquesne University and Pittsburgh, PA

Duquesne is situated in a beautiful setting on a bluff overlooking downtown Pittsburgh, a vibrant metropolitan region of 2.3 million people that has been recognized worldwide for its livability, welcoming atmosphere, and professional opportunities. The campus is a short walk from downtown and only 30 minutes from the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Pittsburgh has long been cited as an exemplar of urban transformation. It has converted its manufacturing-based profile into a diversified economy that features financial services, technology, and distribution offerings. A mix of Fortune 50, 500, and 1000 companies—Alcoa, BNY Mellon, Bayer, Consol Energy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Federated Investors, H.J. Heinz, Koppers, PNC Financial Services, PPG Industries, and U.S. Steel among them—call the city home. Pittsburgh also lays claim to excellent education and healthcare centers and has a well-earned reputation as a mecca for “eds and meds.” Leading hospital networks, such as the Allegheny Health Network and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centers (UPMC) as well as more than two dozen colleges and universities, are situated in the region.

World-class museums, orchestras, theatre, and dance troupes add to the richness of the region's offerings. Pittsburgh is also recognized as a sports center because of its successful professional franchises including the NFL's Steelers, MLB's Pirates, and the NHL's Penguins. The PPG Paints Arena, immediately adjacent to Duquesne's campus, is the Penguins' home rink. Pittsburgh was recently ranked 5th on USA Today's “The 10 Best American Riverfronts” list and has set a global standard for best practices in riverfront development and utilization.

Duquesne students are an essential part of the emerging energetic, entrepreneurial, and progressive nature of the University's home.

Duquesne University is committed to attracting, retaining, and developing a diverse faculty that reflects contemporary society, serves our academic mission and enriches our campus community. As a charter member of the Ohio, Western PA and West Virginia Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), we encourage applicants from members of underrepresented groups, and support dual-career couples.

Duquesne University's Mission Statement commits the University to “serving God by serving students through commitment to excellence in liberal and professional education, through a profound concern for moral and spiritual values, through the maintenance of an ecumenical atmosphere open to diversity, and through service to the Church, the community, the nation and the world. Applicants for this position should be prepared to describe how they might support and contribute to the mission.

Contact Information

Questions? Contact Dr. Benjamin Binder (binderb@duq.edu), chair of the search committee.