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Director of Music – Organist and Choirmaster -- Full time -- St Gertrude Church, Madeira, OH
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February 23, 2022
Director of Music Job Description
MINISTRY TITLE: Director of Music – Organist and Choirmaster
REPORTS TO: Director of Liturgy (In the director of liturgy’s absence, the director of music reports to the pastor)
CLASSIFICATION: Full-time, salary exempt
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Employees of St. Gertrude Catholic Church will have knowledge of the Catholic faith; a willingness to work for a Catholic, faith-based agency; and adhere to the policies of St. Gertrude Catholic Church. Employees will not publicly oppose the teachings of the Catholic faith. Neither shall they publicly advocate for any position in conflict with Catholic teaching or specific positions of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati or the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This requirement includes any public speech (demonstration and written), including the use of social media or other digital technologies.
WORKING HOURS
Regular daytime, evening, and weekend work hours required (up to 45 hours per week)
REGULAR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES- Serves as the organist for weekend Masses, holy days of obligation, Dominican feasts, and Holy Week liturgies.
- Directs adult and children’s choirs and hires section leaders, cantors, additional singers, and instrumentalists as needed.
- Schedules, trains, and prepares cantors for Masses, weddings, and funerals.
- Maintains choral library.
- Plans all music used within the sacred liturgy in collaboration with the school music teacher, funeral choir director, and the contemporary music director.
- Serves as organist for weddings and funerals, and hires cantors and instrumentalists as needed.
- Meets with engaged couples to prepare music for their wedding. (Wedding programs are produced through the parish’s music and liturgy staff.)
- Meets with families to prepare funeral liturgies. When requested, coordinates music with members of the St. Gertrude Resurrection Choir and its organist. (Funeral programs are produced through the parish’s music and liturgy staff.)
- In conjunction with the school principal and the school music teacher, reviews and makes necessary recommendations concerning music used for the weekly school Mass. (There is another organist for this Mass, however, the music director occasionally serves as a substitute organist.)
- Oversees the preparation and production of weekly worship programs (support help is provided).
- Oversees maintenance of parish instruments.
QUALIFICATIONS- Must be a practicing Catholic whose personal and professional life support the teachings of the Catholic Church and the new evangelization.
- Must be committed to the pastoral and spiritual mission of the parish.
- Must have excellent interpersonal, management, communication, and organizational skills.
- Advanced degree in music, specifically in Church music, organ, and choral conducting.
- Must have superior organ skills; the ability to play and conduct the choir simultaneously.
- Must have a thorough understanding of the Church’s liturgy and how the via pulchritudinis is essential for the liturgical life of a parish.
- Must understand and implement what it means to sing the Mass.
- Must know and include the Church’s patrimony of music, including Gregorian Chant, English Propers, etc.
- Must understand and know how to incorporate hymnody in the Roman liturgy.
- Must be able to direct and build the parish’s volunteer adult choir (there are section leaders in each voice part).
- Must be able to build a program of children’s choirs.
- Must have familiarity with desktop publishing and other computer skills.
- Must pass the FBI background check and be in (or come into) compliance with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Decree on Child Protection.
COMPENSATION
Compensation will be based upon qualifications and experience. A full archdiocesan benefits package is part of the compensation.
PARISH PROSPECTUS
St. Gertrude Church has been a revered home to the preservation and renewal of sacred music within the liturgy. In all the failures and successes of the Liturgical Renewal, St. Gertrude is set on a clear path toward the reality of participatio actuoso and desires to maintain and develop this direction. The director of music – organist and choirmaster will ensure that St. Gertrude achieves this objective.
Located in Hamilton County, Ohio, in the City of Madeira, St. Gertrude Church is beginning its second century of service to the people of God entrusted to it by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
The sacramental administration and pastoral care of St. Gertrude was entrusted to the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph in 1926 and remains under their ministration today. In 1934, St. Gertrude School opened under the direction of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation and still remains in their capable hands.
Currently, St. Gertrude Parish is home to over 1,700 families, a school with an enrollment of over 300 students, and active evangelization and catechesis programs at the adult, teen, elementary, and preschool levels.
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE- Weekend Masses
- 4:30 p.m. Saturday vigil Mass (organ and cantor)
- 8 a.m. Sunday (no music)
- 10 a.m. Sunday (solemn choral liturgy)
- 12 p.m. Sunday (organ and cantor)
- 6 p.m. Sunday (contemporary choir*)
Mass to ensure the music chosen is similar to that used at the other Masses.
- Solemnities and Dominican Feast Days: Accompany the novices and congregation at the 11:30 a.m. daily Mass, which is broadcast on Sacred Heart Radio.
- Holy Days of Obligation
- Vigil Mass at 7 p.m. (organ and cantor)
- Day Mass at 11:30 a.m. (organ and novice brothers) and 7 p.m. (organ and cantor)
- Weddings and Funerals (source of additional compensation)
- Weddings: 10 to15 per year
- Funerals: 30 to 35 per year
RESOURCES- 3 Manual Wicks/Walker Organ
- St. Michael Hymnal, 5th Edition
- Priests who support sung liturgy
- Choir room and office
- Choir library
- Support and help with worship programs
- A singing congregation
Interested candidates are asked to send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, samples of worship programs or liturgy plans, and recordings of organ and choral work to Father Jordan Kelly, O.P., at [email protected].