Music Director - Somerset Chamber Choir

Somerset Chamber Choir is seeking a Music Director to take over from Graham Caldbeck in August 2017. Graham will be leaving after nearly 30 years, during which time he has developed the Choir into one of the leading amateur choirs in the South West. This is a significant opportunity for an ambitious conductor to step into his shoes.
About the Choir
The Choir was founded in 1984 by former members of the Somerset Youth Choir and now comprises singers drawn from the local area, together with many who previously lived in Somerset but now travel from more distant parts of the UK to sing with the Choir. Entry is by audition, and there are currently 75 members whose ages mostly range from 25 to 65 years - typically, members remain with the Choir for many years.
The Choir rehearses in mid-Somerset (near Langport) for six full-weekend rehearsals each year, with the benefit of a professional rehearsal accompanist, and currently performs a large-scale concert in Wells Cathedral in the Summer and a smaller-scale concert in Kings College Chapel (Taunton) in the Winter.
The Choir aims for professional standards of performance of interesting and inventive programmes, using the highest quality of professional players and soloists that it can afford, and over many years has developed excellent relationships with, among others, the orchestras Canzona and Southern Sinfonia.
A balance of well-known and unfamiliar music is a hallmark of the Choir’s repertoire, which can be seen from its concert archive at http://www.somersetchamberchoir.org/concerts.htm.
The Role
We now seek an outstanding musician with proven experience of conducting, and with sufficient stature and connections in the musical world to attract excellent professional soloists and instrumentalists. The Choir is currently entering a period of significant growth and development, and the Trustees are particularly focussed on ensuring its sustainability into the future. To this end, the Trustees wish to work from the outset with the Choir’s new Music Director to finalise plans already drafted for the Choir’s next ten years’ activities, and then jointly to implement them with him or her.
The successful candidate will have a keen interest in current trends in the running of successful and sustainable choirs, and will engage creatively and positively with the Trustees and Choir Manager to drive our aspirations, to stimulate our development, to propose and plan future programmes, to rehearse and prepare the Choir for performance, and to lead and conduct our concerts.
Choral singing is a social experience and, having committed whole weekends to rehearsals, members’ enjoyment is paramount – it is therefore essential that the Music Director has the personality and presence to achieve this without compromising the standards we seek.
Application and appointment
Full details of the role, person specification, application process and timetable can be found in the job description which can be obtained from the Choir’s Chairman, Adrian Male, by email at adrian.male@midtrees.plus.com or by telephone on 01460 281364. Additional information about the Choir can be found at www.somersetchamberchoir.org.uk
The closing date for applications is 10th March 2017 and the appointment will commence on 1st August 2017, although discussions to plan future concerts will need to take place prior to that date.
Terms and Dates
The post offers competitive remuneration to be negotiated with the successful applicant; the appointment will be on a five-year contract-for-services, with a one-year probationary period and a performance review at the end of year four.