Thornton School of Music

Part-Time Lecturer, Vocal Arts – Vocal Pedagogy

Spring 2024

Position

The University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music invites applicants for a Part-Time Lecturer in the Department of Vocal Arts and Opera, a department within the Division of Classical Performance and Composition, beginning January 1, 2024. This is a one-semester fixed-term appointment ending May 15, 2024.  This is a sabbatical replacement position and is not renewable in subsequent semesters. 

Combining the benefits of a world-class conservatory and a leading research university, the USC Thornton School of Music offers students the opportunity to pursue a thorough music education in a real-world context. A new educational model for undergraduates in the Division of Classical Performance and Composition, launched in fall 2019, renews Thornton’s commitment to a virtuosic education and asks students to reimagine what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. Thornton offers students a full range of musical disciplines across a demanding innovative curriculum, and the opportunity to work with a faculty of national and international renown. For more information, please visit us at http://music.usc.edu/. 

With a student cohort that is largely BIPOC, gender expansive, and with a wide range of ages and experience, the applicant must be adept at teaching, communicating and empathizing with an extraordinarily diverse student population. The University’s commitment to building an academic environment hospitable to this wide range of diversity is full and complete. To that end, we encourage applications from candidates who identify with groups that are historically underrepresented in the academy.

Duties

Principal duties are:

• Teaching MPVA 542 Voice Pedagogy Practicum, a graduate level course.

  • Voice Pedagogy Practicum is a required course for DMA Vocal Arts and Choral majors who have selected the Vocology/Voice Pedagogy track for one of their two required elective fields; it is an elective course for graduate students who have taken and passed the pre-requisite course, MPVA 541 Advanced Vocology.

• Teaching a voice studio of approximately four graduate voice majors. The actual studio teaching load will depend on enrollment and may vary. 

• Lead Studio Class 4 times in the semester -- as scheduled in the Vocal Forum schedule.

• Mentoring five Vocal Arts graduate student teachers (TAs); includes holding monthly group mentoring sessions with them.

• Assist with the mentoring of 2 DMA candidates in a pedagogy research project.

• Additional duties include participation in department meetings and end-of-semester juries, as needed and requested.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have a record of success in teaching both individual studio instruction as well as classroom instruction at the collegiate level.

• Minimum Education:  Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance or related voice field.

• Minimum Experience:  A record of successful teaching of advanced students, either in a private studio setting or within a university or conservatory. 

To Apply

Please submit:

• Cover Letter

• CV

• Names and email addresses for three references

We will contact candidates separately for additional materials if necessary. 

The salary hiring range for this position for the teaching load described above is $19,000 - $22,000 per semester. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Learn more about our degree offerings and programs: USC Vocal Arts and Opera