Jobs

Part-time Executive Director

We are seeking an Executive Director to lead a thriving neighborhood chorus, with nearly three decades of successful, solvent programming, into a new phase of growth and outreach. We’re looking for a unique talent who’s as passionate about our mission as we are and wants to increase the scope, scale, and impact of our program. Our ideal candidate would be an arts management professional, but we’re open to someone coming from a different background, or a veteran professional looking for a second career. The position demands expertise and a track record of: fundraising from all relevant quadrants, within and outside the arts world; grant writing; and mobilizing broader support from the community, the corporate, and foundation worlds. The Executive Director will work side by side with the Music Director to facilitate the artistic and musical goals of the chorus. The Executive Director will report to and work directly with our Board of Directors to ensure the fiscal and ethical responsibility of the chorus and to maintain a strong liaison to the community. The key financial goal will be to increase our financial base so that we can broaden our outreach to the community and continue a healthy path of development to match our ambitions. The initial financial remuneration will be a modest honorarium but will evolve commensurate with funds raised and organization growth. The time commitment requires a minimum of ten hours per week but could expand to as much as you would like to devote.

THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION:

Our Executive Director will:

• Provide sound fiscal and ethical guidance to the New York City Community Chorus.
• Work closely with the Music Director to facilitate the artistic and musical goals of the Chorus. 
• Initiate and oversee fund raising, including maintaining relationships with donors, identifying new donors and sources of funding, writing grants, and keeping current with ongoing government grant streams.
• Report to the Board of Directors, coordinate with Chorus committees, and recruit Board members.
• Prepare and follow yearly budgets in coordination with the Finance Committee, supervise spending, and make sure income exceeds outgo.
• Supervise the Office Assistant in correspondence, filing, accounting and banking, legal obligations (tax reports, state charities bureau filing), budgetary review, and record maintenance, including the membership rolls.
• Maintain relationships with Chorus personnel (including the Board, staff, and individual members), and reach out to welcome new members.
• Comply with licensing, copyright issues, and other legal matters.
• Attend seminars, training sessions, and peer group meetings where applicable.
• Maintain a relationship with our rehearsal/concert venues.
• Meet all deadlines, including for grants, tax reports, insurance payments, fund raising campaigns, production of events, production of publicity and written programs.

THE ORGANIZATION:

The New York City Community Chorus
We began in 1994 with a handful of Chelsea residents who just wanted to gather and sing. We offered a place where anyone could sing without judgment—even if they thought they “couldn’t sing.” Over the years several hundred people from all walks of life have joined us. Our members have ranged from homeless people to business executives. We represent multiple racial and ethnic groups. We vary in age from our 20s to our 90s. Some are mobility-challenged. Recent membership, while somewhat dented by the COVID quarantine, has topped 90 singers. Our two annual concerts, which we offer for free or for voluntary contributions, attract standing room-only crowds. We sing a wide variety of music, from jazz and rock & roll to Beethoven, from songs of the African diaspora to Broadway hits. During the quarantine we continued to rehearse online, and in lieu of public concerts posted videos of our repertory. This June we returned to live performance with our first public concert in 2.5 years, featuring the Chorus and professional guest artists.

A VISION FOR GOING FORWARD: 
Our mission is to restore singing to the daily life of the community and to create good will in the community through singing. Singing together once helped define the fabric of the community, but social fragmentation and the commercialization of music have frayed that bond. We aim to bring it back. For 25 years our no-audition policy and our repertory, representing many styles and cultures, has brought neighbors together. Already well-established in our northern Chelsea neighborhood, we’re now in a position to expand our vision to a broader community. Our numbers have grown to the point where it might serve us to have more than one level: a beginner chorus to provide a welcoming place for singers of any level, and an advanced chorus to challenge those with more experience. There would be a wealth of material in between for all of us to enjoy together. We’re currently researching starting a youth chorus in our neighborhood to help ensure future diversity. We could export our philosophy and techniques to other communities, including choruses for incarcerated people. We might even seek to acquire our own permanent facility where we could establish a music training program, perhaps adding an instrumental program. The need and desire for ordinary people to make music offers open-ended possibilities for creative thinking. Moreover, the pressures of the current health crises and tensions within our community call for our healing mission.

To apply, please email nycccha.edsearch@gmail.com