Assistant or Associate Organist-Choirmaster
The Cathedral of St. Philip
Atlanta, GEORGIA
The Cathedral of St. Philip seeks a full-time Assistant or Associate Organist-Choirmaster to help lead its broad and dynamic music program. The selected candidate should be a consummate organist & service player, possessing superior skills in hymn playing, choral accompanying, liturgical improvisation, and organ repertory. In addition to sharing organist duties for 250+ services annually, the selected candidate will be charged with responsibility for overseeing and continuing to develop the Cathedral’s RSCM-based Chorister program (children grade 3 and older), requiring expertise in conducting and vocal training, a passion for working seriously with young singers, and a mentor’s approach to Christian formation and character development in children & youth. She/he will assist the Canon for Music (Dale Adelmann) in the leadership, planning, administration and promotion of all areas of the Cathedral’s rich musical life, joining a department that includes a part-time Organist & Artist-in-Residence (Herbert Buffington), a full-time administrative coordinator, the Cathedral Choir, Cathedral Schola, fourteen staff singers, Cathedral Choristers, a Friends of Cathedral Music organization, and a highly dedicated corps of volunteers. The Cathedral Choirs sing approximately 150 services annually, present annual sacred concerts with orchestra, undertake occasional choir pilgrimages to England, and have recorded three compact discs for Gothic Records. The Cathedral’s core virtues & values are grace, excellence, hospitality, initiative, communication, and optimism; the right candidate will embody these characteristics with collegiality, pastoral sensitivity, good humor, and Christian faith. The Cathedral possesses 3 organs: Aeolian-Skinner Op. 1399 (1962 with tonal revisions in 1991, IV/97); a 6-stop Klop continuo organ in the gracious four-second acoustic of the Cathedral nave; and Schoenstein & Co. Opus 171 (2017, II/16) in Mikell Chapel (more information at www.cathedralATL.org/organs). A competitive salary package will include benefits prescribed by the Episcopal Church. Much more information about music at the Cathedral of St. Philip is available online at www.cathedralATL.org/music.
Candidates are invited to submit (1) a résumé and (2) a list of professional & personal references including contact details.
Review of applications will begin April 15, 2024 and conclude when a candidate has been called.
Please submit applications to music@cathedralATL.org or
The Music Search Advisory Committee
The Cathedral of St. Philip
2744 Peachtree Road NW
Atlanta, GA 30305
Position description for a full-time Assistant or Associate Organist-Choirmaster, The Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, Georgia
The Cathedral of St Philip, Atlanta is one of the largest cathedral-parishes in the Episcopal Church. The Assistant/Associate Organist-Choirmaster assists the Canon for Music, Dale Adelmann, and works with the Cathedral music staff and volunteers on all aspects of the Cathedral’s music ministry and music outreach.
Under the oversight of the Canon for Music, the Assistant/Associate Organist-Choirmaster will share responsibilities with the Organist and Artist-in-Residence, Herbert Buffington, to:
- play for 250+ worship services annually, including:
- a. the preparation and accompaniment of approximately 150 choral services,
- b. playing for a portion of the (additionally remunerated) 70-90 funerals & weddings,
- c. participating in and facilitating cathedral recitals and concerts.
- accompany all rehearsals of the Cathedral Choir and Cathedral Schola.
- conduct rehearsals and services, as needed.
- fill in for the Canon for Music or the Organist & Artist-in-Residence during their professional and personal absences.
- serve as organist and/or choirmaster, and/or otherwise help to provide music & hospitality for (typically 5-6) Diocesan services annually, special services, concerts, and other musical events, as needed.
Under the oversight of the Canon for Music, the Assistant or Associate Organist-Choirmaster will:
- take primary responsibility to oversee and develop the Cathedral’s music ministry to children and youth, especially the Cathedral Chorister program, using an RSCM-based approach.
- assist as requested in administrative aspects of planning, developing, and promoting the Cathedral’s music program.
- support special projects of the Cathedral’s music ministry, including, but not limited to choir fundraising, choir tours, recordings, and the Cathedral Recital series.
- support and assist in the work of the Cathedral’s Friends of Cathedral Music organization.
- serve, as needed, as a liaison to visiting choirs, organists, and instrumentalists, and other Cathedral ministries.
- serve as music department liaison to the Allegro (early childhood music) program and provide oversight to its budget and part-time music staff.
- Oversee, with the part-time Organist & Artist-in-Residence, technicians employed to care for and maintain the cathedral instruments.
- serve the Cathedral’s broader mission to the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, the wider Church, and the world, through other duties, as may be assigned.
If the successful candidate is a qualified singer, she/he will have the option to sing with the (auditioned) Cathedral Choir and (semi-professional) Cathedral Schola, when not accompanying or conducting them.