Part-Time Lecturer, Music Theory and Composition

The University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music invites applicants for one or more anticipated openings as Part-Time Lecturer in Music Theory and Composition for the 2024-25 academic year.

The appointment is for the 2024-25 academic year, beginning August 16, 2024. 

Continuation beyond the initial appointment is not guaranteed and will be determined based on programmatic needs.

Combining the benefits of a world-class conservatory and a leading research university, the USC Thornton School of Music offers students the opportunity to pursue a thorough music education in a real-world context. A new educational model for undergraduates in the Division of Classical Performance and Composition, launched in fall 2019, renews Thornton’s commitment to a virtuosic education and asks students to reimagine what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. Thornton offers students a full range of musical disciplines across a demanding innovative curriculum, and the opportunity to work with a faculty of national and international renown.   For more information, please visit us at http://music.usc.edu/. 

With a student cohort that is largely BIPOC, gender expansive, and with a wide range of ages and experience, the applicant must be adept at teaching, communicating and empathizing with an extraordinarily diverse student population. The University’s commitment to building an academic environment hospitable to this wide range of diversity is full and complete. To that end, we encourage applications from candidates who identify with groups that are historically underrepresented in the academy.

Duties

Principal duties will include: Teaching MUCO 132ab and/or 232ab (freshman and sophomore aural skills for music majors) and MUCO 133ab (freshman theory for music majors).  Additional courses in theory, composition, orchestration and counterpoint may be assigned, either as courses or individual instruction, as needed by the department.

Qualifications

The successful candidate will be an experienced, gifted teacher with a minimum one year of college teaching experience, and will have at least a Masters degree in composition and/or theory, with a completed doctorate or ABD preferred.

To Apply

Review of applications will begin on June 17, 2024: 

Interested candidates must apply through the USC online system. Please submit the following with your application:

• Cover Letter

• CV

• Teaching Philosophy Statement

• Names and email addresses for three references who may be contacted for a reference letter

We will contact candidates separately for additional materials if necessary. 

The salary hiring range for this position for the teaching load described above is $4,620 - $4,850 per 2-unit course per semester. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.