Ruth:  Just a few things in answer to your question, although you seem to have them well in hand already.  No matter how good the candidate may seem ahead of time, it is absolutely necessary to observe them working with your choirs!  We have had highly recommended candidates come to interview and audition, only to discover that the candidate had a bad attitude or was unable to work effectively with our choir.

 

For a church job you must decide ahead of time how important your candidates' religious affiliation or philosophy are, and make that clear in your job description.  If your primary concern is professional and musical, you should also make THAT clear.

 

In the academic world there is often a lot more talking and interviewing than actually auditioning.  Ours are scheduled for 2 day visits, including informal meals with committee members, more formal discussions with administrators, often teaching a lesson or two, and working with an ensemble.  And that rehearsal is going to be critical, so it should be well planned both by you and by the candidates in advance.

 

The audition rehearsals themselves will be limited in time by how much time your singers or ringers have during their regular rehearsals.  In our case it is limited by how many of our student choristers can be assembled at the given time and place.

 

What I have liked most is definitely working with the students I might potentially work with.  What I have liked least is matching wits with administrators, each of whom has his or her own agenda and "right" answers to their questions, and most of whom don't agree with anyone else's agendas!

 

When I hold auditions for singers, on the other hand, I try to make them as much like a real rehearsal as possible, because what I really want to discover is what it would be like to work with them in a rehearsal. 

All the best,

John

In the past few years, I've probably gone through the audition process a dozen or more times, and the best process that I've been through was the most recent one that has resulted in my current job.

 

The interview process was held entirely separate from the audition process. This gave me an opportunity ( and the committee!) to just get to know each other without the pressure of a conducting audition, and the pressure of working with a large group of people. The interview also allowed the non-singers on the committee to get more in-depth answers. 

 

From the interview process, it was narrowed down to who they thought would work well with the group, and then the audition was scheduled. The best auditions for me as a conductor are ones that involve music that the choir knows for the most part, and then having the conductor bring in one piece that they choose. I actually was given a copy of the music library so that I could choose what I wanted to work on with my last audition. The worst audition that I had to do involved simply teaching and conducting a hymn out of the hymnal! 

 

Good luck with your process!

 

CJ Redden-Liotta

Music Minster

Vienna (VA) Baptist Church

 

 

Ruth,

I applaud your using this forum for these questions.  Hiring a Choral Director is a unique process.  In a good situation, it is the beginning of a great prefessional/spiritual relationship, and fond memories will last even beyond the director's time there.

I think most churches spend 4 - 10 weeks on this process - from editing the job description, advertising, interview/auditioning, and finalizing.  If more time is desired, an interim person might be necessary.

I have  been through the process several times as a candidate.  Other years, as a Staff Soprano, I was part of the choir experiencing several director-candidates auditions.  The last 2 years of that time, my husband was on a Staff-Parish ("personnel") Committee.   I recommend:

1. Have a very clear picture of the main focus of what you want done.  A list of duties is important, and great.  In addition, and to be the overall motivation behind the duties, you may wish to include a statement about the main goal/objective:  "We wish our Choir Director to foster positive faith experiences through music and the arts."  - or something similar that works for you and your situation.

2. Have input into the Job Description from several sources - choir, minister, congregation, perhaps a neighbor choir director.  This will give necessary balance.  Be clear about who chooses hymns and other congregational service music. 

3. Be clear about the director's keyboard responsibilities.  Will s/he have a keyboard artists to work with?  Will s/he have to play in the keyboard artist's absence?

4. Discuss the specifics of hours per week - both in and out of the church building.  Most folks find some flexibility here an advantage - both for the employed musician and the church.   But is there a minimum/some office hours expected?  (This has been/can be a bit of an issue "down the road".)  Along with that, is this person expected to try to build other groups - children's/youth choirs, etc.?  That can be as time-consuming as directing one, or more so.   If so, discuss that in the interview.  Give them opportunites to work with the young people, even if it is just to lead singing for a Summer Camp/Bible School, etc.  Observe.

5.  After you narrow your candidates down to 3,  set up at least 1 week, preferably 2,  where they can work with the choir and bells in rehearsal, and in worship. Encourage most of the choir(s) to be there.  C.J. Redden-Liotta makes good points; give them some [lightly-supervised] access to your choral library.  If the candidate conducts a piece that the choir knows well from the previous person, they will likely be locked into that interpretation - not helpful for this situation.  On the other hand, "cold" sight-singing might not be great, unless your group is highly skilled in that.  Songs that they have touched on in practice, but never/rarely/not-recently sung, work best.  Decide whether or not you can pay each candidate for these "audition" weeks.  It might be telling.  (I think most churches do not.)  Be sure the Director-candidate is told whether s/he should conduct/lead hymns, graduals, responses, etc. those weeks in addition to conducting anthem(s).

6. After the "audition" , get feedback from the choir through secret ballot [ not just "Which would you prefer?" but "The candidate was easy to follow"  check 1 - 5] - and invited conversation.  Balance the "Wow! S/he is impressively professional !" (sings/plays well/etc.) with "I feel s/he will relate well to our group, and give us just enough challenge."  (Most churches need an excellent musician-educator who is also a personal/spiritual leader - not necessarily a national-concert-level technician.)

7. After you make your choice, please be considerate enough to contact the other candidates - thank them for their time/expertise.  (Recently I applied for a church that is over an hour from my home.  I spent time through the week preparing  for the interview/audition, to be held after church service, as the pastor had requested.  I just happened to call the night before to double-check directions.  He said, "Oh, we've hired someone."  I could have made an hour drive - basically for nothing.)

      Every interview/audition should be a learning experience.  If a church did not hire me, or any colleague, but took care to offer feedback, I would have utmost respect for that church.  I would be likely to apply again, or recommend a good colleague,  if the opening arose.  I was very appreciative of one Search Committee Chair who called me and had positive words to say about why I "came in 2nd."  I told him I'd be glad to sub any Sunday.

Also, if you advertise on a website, or post your opening, please follow-up and have it removed when you secure your person.  It is amazing the number of job listings that remain on sites, many months after a person has been hired.  This is confusing for applicants, more work for the clerical administrators, takes up cyber/bulletin board space, and unfortunately gives the impression that the church did not care enough to follow-through.  If you have a deadline, you can tell the advertising organizatoin,: "Please remove this after..."

I fully expect you will do this process excellently - you have started off quite well!  :)

Best Wishes for a wonderful relationship between your choir, church and your selected Director.

--Lucy