REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
CHURCH MUSIC DIRECTOR CONTRACT
November 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019
Trinity United Church, Kitchener
54 Benton St, at Church St
The Work:
Lead and accompany choir rehearsal each Thursday at 7:30pm, choir warm-up
9:30am Sunday and worship 10am Sunday. Plan and prepare congregational,
choir, and other vocal and instrumental elements of worship, in consultation
with staff, lay leaders, and choir. Extra services and events within the scope of
this contract are limited to Christmas Eve and Good Friday.
The Church:
Trinity UC is a small congregation with a small choir. How small? We saw as
few as 50, as many as 100, at Sunday worship though the last ‘church year’.
Choir was as few as 12, as many as 19, (including 5 paid ‘choral scholars’). We
sold a big building and its 3 manual organ last year, and rent a small chapel
with a big grand piano in St Matthews Lutheran, on Benton at Church St.
The Music:
We may be small, but we love music. Our comfort zone is reflected in a huge
library of choral music, and in our Voices United and More Voices hymnbooks.
We maintain two copyright licences, keep a budget to buy new choral music,
and congregational lyrics are all projected on a screen. We invite music
directors to widen our musical vocabulary!
The Money:
Our budget for this contract is for $400 per week, total $14,000, over 37 weeks,
or 8 months). One person may propose to do all the work. Alternatively, one
director may subcontract accompaniment, or choral conducting, for some or all
Thursdays and Sundays. Our budget for 5 choral scholars is $200 per week,
for new music $1000 for this term, plus the price of music licences.
Deliverables:
Proposals from applicants for this contract should include:
1. Qualifications and experience of the contractor and any subcontractors,
including proficiency and experience in keyboard, choral conducting and
voice pedagogy, within and beyond congregational settings.
2. Overall plan to provide overall music planning, in consultation with
worship coordinator, interim minister, and choir, for November, Advent,
Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost seasons in the contract period.
3. Specific plan to provide keyboard accompaniment and choral conducting
on Thursdays and Sundays through the contract period, and bulletin
details to the church office weekly.
4. Availability for consultation with choir executive, music librarian, worship
coordinator, administrative support, and interim minister, regarding
administration of choral scholars program, licence renewals, piano tuning.
The Future:
Trinity is in the second year of transition, with an interim minister till June 30,
2019. We will approve a staff team plan for July 1 2019, and this year’s music
director will be eligible to apply for contract or employment with that team.
This Music Director will have a role in shaping what’s emerging at ‘Trinity on
Church’, during, and perhaps beyond this contract period!
The Contacts:
Expressions of interest, or questions, may be directed to:
Barbara Bitzer, Worship Coordinator,
c/o Dorothy Hibbard, Administrative Support, office@trinityunitedkw.ca,
(519) 742-3547.
Please circulate this invitation widely:
Posted September 20, 2018, for response by October 14, 2018