Music Director for CoMA London Ensemble

Application deadline: 
Monday, 12 November 2018
Description of vacancy: 

Music Director required for CoMA London Ensemble

We are looking for an experienced musician to serve as principal conductor of this well-established amateur contemporary music ensemble, to work with us from September 2019. Together with the committee you will play a key role in maintaining and promoting the ethos of the ensemble and achieving its objectives in quality of performance, public profile and artistic ambition. We meet weekly, with some breaks for holiday times, on Tuesday evenings from 7.00 – 9.30pm in Shoreditch.  The ensemble usually gives four concerts each year.  We pay £75 per rehearsal session and £300 for each concert.

CoMA (Contemporary Music for All) was established in 1993 to provide opportunities for amateur musicians to participate actively in the creation and performance of contemporary music.  We have created a repertoire of contemporary music that is artistically uncompromising yet technically accessible to amateur players and established ensembles committed to its performance.  These ensembles and colleges, schools and outreach programmes can now draw on CoMA’s unique collection of more than 800 works. In 2016 CoMA established the Festival of Contemporary Music for All, now a biennial event in over 20 locations and 50 partnerships with leading professional, amateur and youth ensembles across the UK and in Europe. The Festival uses participation as a means of achieving a step change in interest, support and love of contemporary music.

CoMA London Ensemble comprises strings, woodwind, brass, piano and percussion of mixed ability (there are no auditions) in a friendly supportive atmosphere. Most of the music we play is flexibly scored, allowing for various line-ups of instruments and we often work directly with composers, including students at conservatoires. Members can also try out their own compositional ideas.  Recently we have taken part in exchanges in Berlin and Maastricht. The ensemble’s forthcoming programme includes a partnership with Trinity Laban and working and performing with young people in Hay-on-Wye.

Applications close at 5pm on 12 November, interviews evening 28 November, auditions early 2019. For application pack and questions please contact Liz Herbert, london@coma.org, 07973 396836.  For more about us visit www.coma.org/london