Organist and choir director (Hastings-on-Hudson, New York)
Organist and choir director (part-time)
Grace Episcopal Church, Hastings on Hudson, New York
Job Description and Specifications
Position (Part Time): Organist and choir director, salaried position, Sunday worship, and rehearsals (around 10 hours per week—quarter time).
Salary range: $15,000-$20,000 per year.
Primary Position Objective: To provide organ/piano/harpsichord music for our Sunday morning worship services as well as occasional special events, while working collaboratively with our Rector to promote the vision and mission of Grace Church.
About our Parish: Grace Episcopal Church, Hastings on Hudson is a warm, welcoming, and vibrant congregation; our principal service on Sunday morning is a family-friendly experience. Hastings on Hudson is easily reachable by Metro North Railroad from Manhattan, and Grace Church is a short walk from the train station. Our congregation appreciates music as it serves to enhance our worship service. Overall we enjoy our fairly traditional music program at Grace, although a majority of parishioners surveyed recently would like to see more variety in our musical selections.
Key Areas of Responsibility/General Duties:
- Select and perform the music (prelude, hymns, anthems, and postlude) for all worship services.
- Provide organ/piano/harpsichord music to accompany the choir, and an occasional guest singer or instrumentalist on Sundays throughout the year. Four weeks vacation.
-Encourage and build up our choir.
- Rehearse once weekly with the choir: a short run-through with the choir a half hour prior to the principal Sunday service, with a longer rehearsal after coffee hour of the music for the following week.
- Meet regularly with the Rector, and work with her to plan musical selections and special services during the liturgical year.
- Provide music for special services (e.g. Ash Wednesday evening, Holy Week, Christmas, etc.).
- Take responsibility for working with the Parish Administrator to schedule necessary maintenance for the organ and tuning of the piano; tune the harpsichord on days when it is needed for the rehearsal and the service.
- Coordinate with the Sunday school director to actively engage children in the musical life of Grace Church.
Qualifications:
- Formal training in organ, and piano or harpsichord through private study or higher education.
- Experience in choir directing and accompanying.
- Church organ experience preferred.
Our Organ:
The organ is a Rogers Cambridge model 885.
Here is the manual for the instrument:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1485886/Rodgers-885.html?page=7#manual
It is a two manual standard five- octave instrument with a full AGO pedal board.
16 stops on the swell
14 on the great
6 on the positif register
9 on the pedal
Our organ has a good sound, which goes well with the acoustics in our church.
The harpsichord is an Eric Herz instrument made in Boston, 1969. It has a single manual, 4 1/2 octaves, with 8-foot, 4-foot, and buff stops.
The piano is a Vintage Baldwin Model “L” Grand piano ca. 1959 with matching seat; it is in excellent condition, having been refinished and expertly restored in the past few years.
Send application to:
office@gracehastings.org Attention: Organist Search.
Your application should include a cover letter, your resume, two or three letters of recommendation, and a link to a recording of your organ playing. You may also send a link to recordings of your harpsichord or piano playing, or choir conducting.