Recruiting a Music Director

Recruiting for a new musical leader is an important moment for a music group. This resource will take you through the process from defining the role to making an offer. Groups use different terms for their group's musical leader role, but in this resource we will use Music Director (MD).  

Contents:

  1. Recruitment approaches  
  2. Define the role 
  3. Define the process  
  4. Creating a recruitment pack  
  5. Advertise the role  
  6. Interviewing 
  7. Auditioning 
  8. Decision, offer and onboarding  
  9. Top five takeaways  

1. Recruitment approaches  

Recruitment has often been seen as a way of putting people through their paces - a tough process leads to the strongest candidates. There are increasingly different views and approaches. If you want the best person for the role you need to find a way for everyone to show their best. This starts at the beginning by making sure people don’t feel excluded from applying or that they are not the right fit; it continues through every stage of the process by finding ways to put people at ease and show you what they can do. The ultimate aim is to get the best person for the role - the wider the pool of people you have to choose from, and the better you understand what they offer, the more likely you are to achieve this.   

There are lots of different ways you can do this, and there are suggestions throughout this resource. Not all of them are small undertakings, as ever, with volunteer-run organisations; you can only do what is realistic and practical, but small changes can make a difference. (To see how Making Music has updated his recruitment practices, read our CEO's latest blog about recruitment.)

Recruitment is a two-way process - you are recruiting for the best person for you group, and the individuals want the best role to fit them and their career. The more open you are about your group and what it is like, the more confident a potential MD can be that it is right for them. Getting this right at recruitment stage can avoid unforeseen problems six months down the line, and possibly having to recruit all over again.  

How quickly do you need to act?  

Needing to find a new MD can come suddenly or with months of warning. Whatever the situation there isn’t necessarily a need to rush. Getting it right is what counts, so take some time. You could use guest MDs for a term. This could be people you already have a connection with or a new person (local music college, school with a music teacher, or another local music group whose MD may enjoy a bit of temporary additional moonlighting). Even if it isn’t sudden, you could still plan for a guest MD for a period - this would avoid overlapping the existing MDs departure with the recruitment process. You can turn the situation into a positive experience, facilitating different conductors to give your members some new experience singing or playing under a variety of people, and you might learn something about the sort of permanent MD you want.

Discrimination  

Be mindful throughout the process that your group is also subject to legislation such as the Equality Act, so you must be careful not to discriminate against applicants or candidates, for example on grounds of age or sex ('oh this person is too old/we didn’t really want a woman'). Under the Equality Act 2010, there are nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. 

2. Define the role 

Whether your previous MD has been with you for a year or a decade, recruiting for a new MD is an excellent opportunity to step back and review how the role will work for your group.  

A key consideration is the relationship you want between the MD and those managing the group. How much freedom does the MD have to set the musical direction? Are they constrained by budgets only? Does the management team decide based on advice from the MD? Or does the management team set a musical direction for the MD to follow? There is no right or wrong answer but being clear on expectations is vital. You also need to consider where other responsibilities lie, such as booking professional musicians and sourcing physical copies of parts and scores.  

As well as defining what you are looking for, be clear on who you are as a group and what your ambitions are (e.g. more/less teaching, more/fewer concerts in more/less prestigious venues, touring etc.).  

The fee

'How much should we pay our MD' is a common question we get. There are some cases where an MD does not want to be paid e.g. a recently retired teacher happy to volunteer their time. This can be great for a group, but if you are advertising for a role you should expect to pay a fee. You will be engaging a professional to provide a service, and they deserve to be paid a fair fee for their skills; how much will vary on the role and the experience levels of the person, and where you are in the country. Below are some useful reference points to benchmark your fee:

3. Define the process  

Application process

What do you want applicants to provide? A covering letter and CV are typical, and quite useful. What other material could you consider? Videos of them in action, a video pitch (like a spoken covering letter) or testimonials? Some groups ask an applicant to provide a sample programme for the next concert or the next year, together with a top line budget. This can give an idea how well they have researched the group and what their musical inclinations or strong points are. Could you ask a few specific questions? (e.g. 'What do you think are the most important considerations when leading a mixed-ability group?') Asking one or two targeted questions that would normally be interview questions at this stage could help produce a better shortlist. You could ask for written or video response (it is best to give a word count / time limit). You will also need to consider how many references you want. 

Timeline

Providing clear info to the candidates will help them feel confident about applying. An application deadline of course, but it’s good to give a rough indication of when auditions and interviews will take place ('week of' would be enough) and when they can expect to hear from you. You also need to be clear on your own internal deadlines, so everyone knows when decisions need to be made.  

Assessing candidates

An initial interview followed by some candidates invited to audition is a common approach. But reversing this could be a good option. If how they perform in front of members and what members think is the most important – why not get straight to it? Obviously, there are time and practical implications to holding more auditions, but it could mean less interviews too.  

Assessment criteria and panel

Be clear about who will be making decisions. It should ideally be the same people throughout from assessing applications to interview. Keeping it to a minimum (three at most) will help efficient decision-making and avoid overwhelming candidates at interview stage. 

Including a music professional is a good idea. The outgoing MD can be useful, but it can be uncomfortable for them or applicants, and even inappropriate if you are looking for a new direction. An external person, perhaps the MD of another group you know, could provide a useful musical and 'outsider' perspective. If time commitment is an issue, they could just observe the audition and give you feedback. If you are a choir with a regular accompanist, it is also a good idea to involve them in the process – this is a key relationship for your new MD and the two will have to be able to have a good relationship.  

Throughout the assessment process the panel will need a clear set of criteria to score applicants against. The criteria should be clearly linked to the role description. Create a selection grid for easy comparison of candidates at application stage, and another one for the interview and audition stage.  

Before you start assessment, it’s a good idea to decide how many people you want to shortlist for interviews/auditions.  

What role will members play?  

What your members think is crucial and needs to be part of the process. Approaches range from the final decision being in members' hands with a vote following auditions, to member feedback being a consideration for the selection panel in the final decision.  

Outside of the final decision, members will want to be actively involved and kept informed of the process (timeline, auditions etc). Regular updates at rehearsals or email will reassure them that there is a process and it’s underway, even if they don’t see all the individual steps. 

4. Creating a recruitment pack  

Once the role and process has been defined you can create a recruitment pack for potential applicants. Typically, this will include an advert and role description that between them sell the role and provide all the key information. Having all the relevant information in one place on your website, which you link to from adverts on other platforms, is a good way to do this. Staggering access to information (e.g. 'email us for a role description') puts up barriers and makes it less likely people will apply.  

For all communications about the role think how to make the content accessible and inclusive so you don’t accidentally put anyone off. You can read more about this in our inclusive communications resource.  

Advert  

The main aim is to sell the role and the group. The tone and content of your advert will be a key factor in someone reading and deciding to apply, so make sure it’s an accurate representation of your music group’s culture. It can be useful to think about this not just as an advert about a role for candidates, but an advert for your group generally, to the wider world. Include information like how long the group has existed and size etc. But, more importantly – what is it about? What’s great about your group, what makes it interesting and why do people come? Is it about the fun and social side or striving for excellence and performance? These aren’t mutually exclusive, but there might be a primary focus to emphasise. But don’t lose sight of the role, make sure you bring it back to the opportunity your group is offering through this role.  

You also need to provide key practical details, location, time commitment, fee, application process and deadlines.   

The different platforms you advertise on will have different word counts and ways of structing your advert. It’s important to avoid using the same wording across all platforms – an advert posted in a Facebook group would look different than one printed in your local paper. A good approach is to write a 200-300 word advert that can go on your own website. You can then use versions of this or an extract as advert copy on different platforms, tailoring it based on the medium and audience type.

You could also consider an access and inclusion statement about being open to a range of applicants from a range of backgrounds. A role description is important to inform people of what you are looking for, but they can inadvertently put people off who don’t directly recognise themselves in the description but might have something to offer your group. A statement addressing this and encouraging people to think beyond the role description alone can help remove these barriers.  

It is also a good idea to include a contact name and person, so potential candidates can speak with some and ask any questions.    

Role description  

Include a 100-150 word summary of the role and the group; like the advert it should sell both. If you have a mission, vision and values statement you can include them too. 

Practical details about the role: Include the time commitment, number and frequency of rehearsals/performances, and the fee. Sometimes fees are left out, but applicants deserve to know this information up front. If there is room for negotiation you could provide salary guidelines ('fee in the region of…', 'fee between X and Y depending on experience'). Be clear if you pay expenses – generally these are included in a contract for services, so would not be expected by an applicant, but it is perhaps helpful to spell it out – e.g. 'total fee for X concerts and Y rehearsals a year…'.

Skills and experience: Music is a given, but needs to be specified – what kind of musical background and experience do you want? What are the music skills needed e.g. developing and honing members’ skills, working with a range of abilities, focusing on a particular genre.   

What are the skills you want beyond music? Time management, organisation, planning, communication skills, access and inclusion experience, friendly and supportive approach etc.. It can be easy to end up throwing a lot of 'buzzwords' around – but try and be specific to your group; what are the skills that are needed to help your group and its members thrive?  

A common approach is to have 'essential' and 'desired' skills and experience, and that is useful, but can also impact the way candidates look at the role and limit the applicants you get. Think about what is really essential and keep it as short as you can.  

Description of what is involved: This should be quite detailed and cover everything the person is expected to do. Think about where the role leads, advises, oversees, inputs to, works with, supports etc., and who with e.g. chair, committee, librarian etc. Its also good to talk about budgets, if relevant, in this section.  

Other recruitment pack materials 

You could provide other information about your group to provide context and narrative e.g. a short 'history of' document or previous event programmes, your latest annual report or public accounts. You might even consider a more detailed budget breakdown of recent concerts to give potential applicants a feel for your group (being mindful of confidentiality). If these things already exist online, they could be links in the advert.  

5. Advertise the role  

There are lots of places to promote roles. The approach should be two-pronged: direct to where possible candidates might see it, and more generally and widely where someone connected to a possible candidate might see it.  

6. Interviewing 

Interview questions should be designed to help you assess the candidates against your agreed criteria and linked to the role description. Think about assessing their musical and non-musical skills but have questions that try to understand the person and their motivations too. It is also a good idea to have a range of question styles like scenarios, competency and experienced based.  

It’s also important to remember that interviews are a two-way process - the candidate will also be looking to understand if your music group is a good fit for them and their career, so make sure to showcase your group’s values and culture throughout this entire process.  

Try to create an environment that allows candidates to perform well, by providing as much information before the interview as possible to put candidates at ease: 

  • where, when, transport links (or tech details if it will online), 
  • how long it will last,  
  • who will be on the panel, 
  • if they will need to prepare or bring anything with them.  

You could send a question or two in advance to help them prepare. It can help settle nerves and seeing how they prepared for these questions can tell you something about the person.  

Ask the candidates to let you know if they need any adjustments made to the process to best demonstrate their capabilities and consider what you can do to help accommodate them. More information about this can be found in our access and inclusion resource.  

Some other practical considerations:  

  • Who will chair the interview and who will ask which questions, 
  • Plan the length of the interviews with the aim to spend at least 20-30 minutes with each candidate, 
  • Having a spare room for candidates to wait in beforehand, 
  • Having somebody on duty to welcome candidates and offer tea/coffee/water, 
  • Test tech and internet connections ahead of online interviews and make sure everyone has a suitable and private space,  
  • Have a dedicated technical expert on the panel who knows how to troubleshoot if you have tech issues for online interviews,  
  • Be clear about next steps and timelines.  

7. Auditioning 

An audition probably doesn’t to be a full rehearsal, but at least half an hour is needed to give candidates a fair chance and establish a rapport with members. A good approach is to select one piece which your members know well and one which is not so familiar to them. Think through how long these pieces are and how much time the candidate will need and make sure it tallies with the audition length.  

Give the candidates as much info as you can, and as much time to prepare as you can (at least a week). Also consider the following:

  • Do members sightread?  
  • How well does the group know the pieces?  
  • You might have to provide music, particularly if the pieces are uncommon.
  • All the practical stuff about when, where, how to get there, a named contact and contact details etc.  
  • Will it be recorded?  

If you are having multiple auditions on the same day, make sure they are staggered and give members enough of a break.  

As with interviews, ask candidates to let you know if they need any adjustments made to the process to best demonstrate their capabilities and consider what you can do to help accommodate them. More information about this can be found in our access and inclusion resource.  

Will the assessing panel be scoring the audition? Agree the criteria and link it to the role description. How will members feedback? A vote should ideally be a secret ballot and counted independently. Is it a single vote for favourite, or ranking candidates in order? You might want to give members the chance to provide specific feedback as well as vote. Or you could just ask for feedback - again, it should be anonymous so members can speak freely. A short survey is a good option; using an online platform like SurveyMonkey can make it easy for people to complete and to compare results. Make sure you ask the same questions for each candidate.  

8. Decision, offer and onboarding  

If the final decision sits with the assessment panel it should be based on how the candidates scored against your criteria, and you need to decide how much weight to give members’ views. If the final decision is by member vote, you should have a secure way of recording that vote. 

Once you have decided you can make an offer, communicate this to the applicant, ideally by phone:

  • Agree a fee,  
  • Ask for referees and send a draft contract, 
  • Check references, sometime a phone call will yield better information that writing. Do some research of your own too, perhaps contacting Chairs of other groups they have conducted, 
  • Assuming you are happy, finalise the contract.   

When making the decision it is useful to also think about who you would be happy to offer the role to if your preferred person does not work out. You might want to send a holding message until you have finalised the appointment with your first choice candidate. Anyone who would not be suitable can be told straight away. It is good to offer all unsuccessful candidates feedback, always linking it to the criteria and where they scored well or less well than others.  

Keeping details of strong runner-ups is sensible, generally. Sometimes things go wrong and your new MD might not last very long, for whatever reason. There is no reason why you shouldn’t get back in touch with a strong second candidate and explain what’s happened. Perhaps you’d like to confirm they are still your favourites by asking them to do a second audition. 

There is always a risk recruitment doesn’t work and you don’t find anyone that is the right fit. Its tempting to go for the least bad fit in this scenario, but it's best not to rush - remember a guest conductor can fill a gap whilst you re-group and re-think.  

Announcement  

Once the role is final you can announce it to the wider world. Social media platforms and your own website are the most obvious places – but it might also be something local press and media are interested in, which is also a good way to promote you group generally.   

Thinks about the order of events, your members should be the first to know before any public announcement. Coordinate with the new MD about when they can talk about it publicly.  

Contracts and onboarding  

It is always a good idea to have a contract in place between the group and the MD. Sometimes things develop informally and it’s understandable that contracts never end up being sorted. Disputes between MDs and groups are always made more difficult and unpleasant for all if there isn’t a contract in place. They are there to protect the group and the MD – and any professional should expect to have one for providing services. We have a template contract you can use.  

Sometimes new roles don’t work out. Having a probationary period in the contract is a useful safeguard, for you and for them, and also means nobody has to lose face if things don’t work out. Be sure to schedule a conversation and gather the necessary feedback for it from all relevant parties (members, accompanist etc.), when the probationary period is about to finish. 

Even if the candidate is working out fine, schedule a conversation at the end of their probationary period (gathering feedback from others), as well as at least once a year – it is always useful to take stock and to give space for a meeting to step back and look at what perhaps can be done better or differently. 

Think about the first things that need to help the new MD settle in:

  • Provide key info about the group - budgets, who committee members are and their roles,  
  • Share meeting schedules, how communication works, the group's email, WhatsApp group chat, website logins/member area,  
  • Create time to meet and build relationships with key individuals: Chair, other committee members, accompanist etc.; you could also plan a social event with members,
  • You could give the new MD a task quite quickly – such as a rehearsal plan for the coming weeks; this can quickly introduce them to the group dynamic and for them to feel involved.

9. Top five takeaways  

  1. Recruitment is important and worth getting right – give yourself time to think it though.  
  2. It’s a two-way process, the group and MD have to find the right fit in each other. The process should be open and accessible to allow this to happen.  
  3. Be fair to all candidates – have clear criteria you are assessing against, and apply it consistently.  
  4. Members are important – give them a say and keep them informed.  
  5. A fair fee and a proper contract is vital.  

    We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.

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