GCTYO is hiring!

Jazz Orchestra Conductor

Location: Fairfield, CT
Position Type: Part-Time Employee
Start Date: August 1, 2025
Application Deadline: July 15, 2025

About the Organization:

Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras is a dynamic, thriving youth music organization committed to nurturing young musicians through high-quality music education and performance experiences. We are currently seeking a passionate and dedicated Jazz Orchestra Conductor to lead one of our two youth jazz orchestras.

Position Summary:

The Jazz II Conductor will be responsible for directing a jazz ensemble made up of middle and high-school students. This includes cultivating jazz technique and improvisation skills, and preparing students for performances in a supportive, educational, and engaging musical environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead weekly rehearsals during the academic year (Saturdays, 12:15-1:15 PM)
• Select appropriate, diverse, and age-appropriate jazz repertoire
• Teach stylistic fundamentals, improvisation, ensemble techniques, and jazz history
• Foster a positive and inclusive environment that promotes musical growth and teamwork
• Collaborate with the Music Director and staff on programming and performance planning
• Conduct public performances, including 3 seasonal concerts per year in November, March, and May, and occasional special events
• Assist with Jazz auditions and student placement
• Communicate with families and staff regarding schedules, expectations, and student progress

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in music, jazz studies, music education, or a related field
• Experience working with young musicians in a teaching, coaching, or conducting role
• Strong knowledge of jazz ensemble literature, styles, and improvisation. 
• Effective rehearsal techniques and strong communication skills
• Commitment to youth development and music education.

Preferred:

• Master’s degree in music or music education
• Experience arranging or composing for student jazz ensembles
• Performance experience as a jazz musician
• Experience in community-based or non-profit youth music programs
• Experience with a wide range of styles beyond Jazz
• Must be a team player willing to help recruit young jazz musicians

Other duties:

• Attendance at staff meetings and some summer work
• Attendance at dress rehearsals, concerts, and occasional other student events
• Occasional committee work
• Attendance at professional development workshops

Teaching Artists are compensated (hourly rate) for attending scheduled professional development sessions and other additional activities that benefit the organization.

Salary: $4,500-$7,000 (annual), depending on experience and qualifications

Application Materials:

• Cover letter addressing your interest, experience, and approach to youth jazz education
• Resume or Curriculum Vitae
• 1–2 video samples of rehearsal or performance (with youth ensembles preferred)
• Contact information for 2–3 professional references.

Send applications to Chris Hisey, Music Director (musicdirector@gctyo.org) by July 15, 2025.

Selected candidates will be invited to teach a demo lesson at the beginning of our season in September.

Qualified individuals from backgrounds traditionally under-represented in the arts are strongly encouraged to apply. Read our DEI Statement below and our mission statement here: https://gctyo.org/mission-statement. We are also on Facebook and Instagram.

Join a thriving organization and teach students who are eager to learn and dedicated to making music!
 

GREATER CONNECTICUT YOUTH ORCHESTRAS

STATEMENT OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras (GCTYO) is grounded in the conviction that music education is a vital part of the education and development of young people and of communities as a whole. Accordingly, our music programs develop and support young musicians with an understanding that they are also part of a much larger world that is both diverse and historically complex. With this larger global context in mind, GCTYO recognizes that delivery of a robust and meaningful music education must begin with an acknowledgement of the historical inequity, exclusion and disparity of access to resources that shape the landscape in which we live. Euro-centricity, hetero-normative gender expectations, colonial conquest, and anti-Black racism have shaped the history of classical and symphonic music and continue to determine access to and success in the field. Given the systemic racism,  anti-LGBTQ bias, gender bias, and white privilege that dominates the orchestral world, our organization commits to creating opportunities for the meaningful inclusion of historically under-represented voices, particularly those from Black and Brown communities. These efforts will include (but are not limited to) equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogical and performance practices, diversifying our musical repertoire to include musicians and composers of color, and hiring staff that is diverse and reflective of our student community and the global community in which we live. In an effort toward accountability for these goals, we pledge to regularly engage our student musicians, parents, and GCTYO community by conducting annual assessments and inviting comments and suggestions about our progress. Our hope is that students emerge from the GCTYO music program as strong musicians with a deep commitment to social justice and an understanding of how music can play a part in achieving unity and equity for all.

AAPI Statement of Support

Spring 2021

GCTYO stands with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community who have been targeted, harassed and endured violent discrimination during the coronavirus pandemic. We recognize the valuable contributions of the AAPI community to our orchestras and to society as a whole. Racism against AAPIs has a long history in our nation that has been unaddressed and GCTYO takes an actively anti-racist stance against this bias.