Assistant Professor of Sound Reinforcement & Design

Shenandoah Conservatory, one of the country’s leading centers for collaborative work across the performing arts, is seeking nominations and applications for an exceptional sound reinforcement and audio engineer. This full-time and career-contract track position - housed within the Theatre Division but also engaged with the Conservatory’s Music Production & Recording Technology (MPRT) program - begins August 2023.

Responsibilities:
The chosen candidate will further strengthen Shenandoah Conservatory's profile and reputation as a premiere place of study for future sound professionals, and as a place where audiences can experience transformative performances.

Specifically, the desired candidate will:

• Provide overall leadership to the Sound Design and Reinforcement degree (housed within the Theatre division’s Technical Design & Production area) and support aligned recruitment activities.
• Teach courses related to sound reinforcement and design within both the Theatre division and MPRT program.
• Design (or mentor student designers) for mainstage productions and one mainstage opera.
• Supervise and train work-study students in sound reinforcement in performance spaces, focusing on those housed within the Theatre Division’s main theatres.
• Be centrally involved in the work of further developing cutting-edge undergraduate curriculum, ensuring exceptional industry-oriented programs.
• Provide oversight and maintenance of sound equipment inventory in all conservatory performance spaces (including monitoring equipment, prioritizing new equipment purchases, and integrating new equipment purchases into current multimedia systems).
• Teach other undergraduate courses in the field of expertise as appropriate.
• Service on school-wide committees and participation in meetings, auditions, and recruitment activities are expected.

About the Theatre Division:

Shenandoah Conservatory’s Theatre Division is in an exciting period of development. Beyond having one of the country’s most distinguished Musical Theatre programs, the Theatre Division – which focuses exclusively on undergraduate BFA training and is uniquely situated within a comprehensive performing arts conservatory - includes an innovative Meisner-based Acting program, and an intensive undergraduate Theatre Design and Production program. The three programs maintain a reputation for excellence in pre-professional training and keep a constant eye on the industry, providing highly individualized education in a rigorous yet supportive environment. The Conservatory maintains multiple performance spaces across campus. Main theatre performance spaces include Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre (a 632-seat proscenium theatre), Glaize Studio Theatre (a flexible black box), as well as Hal Herman Lab Theatre (a uniquely flexible teaching and student performance space). Other Conservatory-related performance spaces include Armstrong Concert Hall, Goodson Recital Hall, and Shingleton Black Box. In addition to a robust traditional production calendar, Shenandoah Conservatory also hosts a resident professional summer stock theatre, Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre. As one of the country’s largest campus-based summer musical theatre seasons, SSMT welcomes over 20,000 patrons annually, producing three full-scale musicals, and employing student and professional actors in the company.

About the Music Production and Recording Technology Program (MPRT):

The Conservatory is proud to be home to an MPRT program that includes Grammy®-award-winning faculty with extensive national and international music production experience (2 full-time and 4 part-time), an extensive array of resources, and a unique focus (as a Bachelor of Music degree) on musicianship. Students in the MPRT BM degree pursue training in a recording studio equipped with a Solid State Logic Duality console, a 9.2.4 immersive audio room, MIDI and Mac labs that are equipped with the latest array of digital audio workstation software, and a DiGiCo SD9 and L’ Acoustic array system in the main theatre. Students work with a wide variety of microphones, digital consoles, and outboard equipment. The MPRT program is the only such program in the country to have received three Apple Distinguished Program awards in a row. MPRT students have an active student chapter of the Audio Engineering Society (AES), and all MPRT faculty are members of the AES.

About Shenandoah Conservatory:
Shenandoah Conservatory was founded in 1875 and has an extraordinary legacy of shaping music and the performing arts in Virginia and beyond. Located at the head of the historic Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, VA, 70 miles west of Washington DC, the Conservatory is now home to over 640 award-winning students from across the nation and globe enrolled in baccalaureate, master, and doctoral curricula in the areas of music, theater, and dance, and includes a distinguished faculty of over 125, half of whom are full-time. Beyond being a comprehensive performing arts school, Shenandoah Conservatory is home to exceptional artists and scholars who are unusually oriented towards collaboration and innovative approaches to the career preparation of students. The Conservatory’s ShenCoLAB (formerly titled Student Performance Week) is but one example of the Conservatory’s nation-leading embrace of innovation and collaboration: a (first-in-the-country) week-long stoppage of all classes and rehearsals across all programs with the school turned over to students for student-led (and faculty-mentored) collaborative projects. The Conservatory’s proximity to Washington, DC, and Dulles Airport, ensures easy access to and regular interaction with professionals from around the country and the world. www.su.edu/conservatory

Required Experience

Qualifications:

Required and minimum qualifications include the following:

• A record of distinguished sound design and sound reinforcement experience
• An ability to recruit and a passion for developing/mentoring students
• A powerful orientation toward collaborative work
• A deep understanding of emergent technologies
• An ability to work with others to further strengthen the Conservatory’s cutting-edge undergraduate sound programs
• Demonstrable skills from an assortment of sound software applications such as SMAART, Logic ProX, ProTools, Qlab, Vectorworks, Digico SD9, Midas M32, Allen & Heath SQ5, MADI, and Dante Protocols.
• A graduate degree in theatrical or live sound reinforcement or equivalent professional work
• An ability to contribute to the Conservatory’s commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equity.

How to Apply:

Complete application submissions will include a letter of intent (in which candidates should describe their commitment to and engagement around inclusion, diversity, and equity), curriculum vitae, and contact information for three professional references. The review of applications will begin immediately and continue until a qualified candidate is selected. A pre-employment background check will be required. If the job requires driving for University business, a satisfactory driving record will also be required.

Shenandoah University values the unique and diverse perspectives of individuals and communities locally and globally and seeks to foster mutual understanding in an inviting community where individuals are welcome and respected. The university does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran’s status, or on any other basis protected under applicable law.

Salary Type
Not Applicable