Resident Music Faculty - Cata | Community Access to the Arts (CATA)

CATA Visual Arts Music Faculty

Resident Music Faculty position is 32 hours/week and reports to CATA Program Directors.

This position is an excellent opportunity for a talented and versatile musician, performer, and teaching artist to contribute to an innovative, award-winning arts organization that is changing the lives of people across our local community.

Under the direction of CATA Program Directors, the Resident Music Faculty designs and teaches music and singing workshops for CATA artists with developmental and intellectual disabilities, autism, and brain injuries in CATA studios, special education classrooms, day programs, and program partners throughout Berkshire and Columbia counties. Workshops will give people with disabilities across a spectrum of ability and age the opportunity to explore singing, song form, rhythm-making, composing lyrics and melodies, improvisation, and collaborative, communal music-making, and may also include opportunities for more advanced explorations of specific musical forms or approaches.

The position is 32 hours/week with benefits, with an expectation of work hours four days a week from 9-5. Some additional evenings and weekends may occasionally be required with advance notice. Reports to CATA Program Directors.

Responsibilities:

• Under the direction of Program Directors: develop, plan, and teach compelling, participatory group workshop series in music that nurture the creativity of CATA artists with disabilities in alignment with CATA's strategic goals, using adaptive, inclusive techniques to engage participants across a wide spectrum of ability and to encourage participants to explore musical styles, experiment with music-making, and experience the joy of creating music collaboratively.
• As a faculty artist working in the settings of our program partners, represent CATA's organizational values, including respect for partner staff, leaders, and direct care workers and uphold your role as a CATA ambassador, exercising strong listening and communication skills; communicate clearly to supervisors about successes and challenges and help facilitate their strong relationships with program partners.
• Develop curricula and assessment tools, under the direction of supervisors: identify key learning outcomes through written curriculum and project descriptions; tailor projects in response to needs and interests of CATA artists; assist in researching and developing adaptive tools; set clear expectations for workshops; and assess progress toward goals through feedback provided by supervisors, CATA artists, and program partners.
• Participate in CATA performances, sharings, and other events as a co-leader or in support role, and model engaged participation for CATA artists.
• Actively participate in ongoing professional development, trainings, meetings, and faculty retreats and apply learnings to develop your teaching, under the direction of supervisors. Openly receive performance-based feedback from supervisors, and use feedback to drive growth and improvement.
• Under guidance of Program Directors, Mentor CATA Artists with disabilities: Support artists in exploring composition, sound design, and other music performance-related roles; work with Program Directors to develop curriculum to prepare CATA Artists to take on leadership roles through co-teaching workshops, expanded sound/music design and technical roles, and/or co-leading public programs; help recruit guest artists in music to engage with CATA artists
• Other tasks and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Music, Music Education, or a related field, or equivalent life/work experience
• Working performing artist with a minimum of three years teaching experience in a range of settings
• Proficiency as vocalist with an accompanying instrument (piano, guitar, banjo, etc.) required; Multi-instrumentalist with knowledge in and familiarity with a range of musical skills and approaches, including singing, guitar, and/or percussion preferred; familiarity with accessible instruments and/or music making tools is a plus
• Excellent time management and communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with other artists and within an organizational structure, reporting to supervisors
• Ability to adapt and modify learning experiences for people of all abilities and ages, exercising empathy, sensitivity, and inclusion to successfully engage a broad age range of participants from elementary school to elder care
• Ability to successfully engage with people who are diverse by race, class, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, and ability; demonstrate cultural competence and foster inclusion; and commit to deeper learning and professional development in areas including racial and social justice and disability rights. Candidates with previous training in Universal Design for Learning, trauma-informed teaching, and DEI preferred.
• Reliable transportation and willingness to travel throughout Berkshire County, MA and Columbia County, NY with mileage reimbursement

CATA offers:

A compensation package including a salary of $45,000 annually for 32 hours/week and excellent benefits including:

• 100% employer-paid health & dental insurance premiums for employees (retroactively effective to hire date)
• Family health and dental packages
• Retirement savings program of 401k plan with 4% employer match
• Generous paid vacation (prorated two weeks; increasing to three weeks after second year, plus separate sick time)
• Paid holidays including all federal holidays plus days before and after Thanksgiving; three extra December days, two floating religious holidays, birthday holiday, and extra "restorative week"
• Short- and long-term disability coverage; Life insurance; Paid family leave; Mileage reimbursement for qualifying travel
• CATA is a qualified employer under the PSLF federal student loan forgiveness plan
• Dedicated training to develop teaching skills, including trauma-informed teaching, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and Autism-specific training, plus the opportunity to apply for additional funds to support your individual professional development
• Invitations to special events and programs
• Active participation in a mission driven organization with a positive and inclusive work culture and a strong impact on the community

How to Apply:

Candidates should send a resume and a cover letter that describe how their qualifications and experience match the need.

Apply here: https://www.applicantpro.com/openings/cataarts/jobs

All inquiries and materials will be confidential.

CATA is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and actively seeks a diverse pool of candidates. CATA welcomes people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, gender identities, religions, ages, and sexual orientations to apply.