Would You Like To Join The Team?

Job Title: Musician / Choir Leader / Singing Tutor in Various Locations (East Anglia)
Salary: £75 – £150 per session plus bonuses

 

FULL TRAINING GIVEN – FULL SCORES ARRANGED FOR YOU

This Musician / Choir Leader / Singing Tutor will be working for East Anglia’s fastest growing and most exciting rock & soul choir: Invidia Voices. They are looking for a musical mood booster and enthusiastic confidence enhancer, to enrich the lives of their precious members with music and fun! Are you one of life’s musical geniuses and singing phenomena? Someone who can take 50 people, a score in 6 parts and create magic? If this is you, then you will love this role.

 

You’ll be running the show at your sessions, but will have the full support of 2 buddies at every rehearsal, as well as impeccable admin support from the Norwich offices. You’ll be able to reach out, connect and work alongside other tutors like you to exchange tips and ideas, and meet them at regular training sessions. Unlike other choirs around, Invidia Voices will not ask you to recruit your own members, learn cheesy moves or commit to a minimum amount of evenings per week.

 

The right person for the job will:

• Be able to read music to a high standard and comfortably work from a 6 part SSAABT score.
• Be able to play piano to a reasonable standard for the purposes of warming up and teaching each choir section their part.
• Have some experience of vocal coaching / singing tuition.
• Be outgoing, friendly, and with great people skills.
• Have good leadership skills.
• Own their own digital piano and small PA system or be willing to invest in one.
• Be happy to carry out some basic admin with the support of their rehearsal buddies and the office.
• Be happy to lead up to five, non-paid performances with their group per year. This could be anything from a sing-along at your local pub, to a full public performance.

Previous choir leading or conducting experience is not a must. What Invidia Voices are looking for is someone with the right musical skills and the right attitude that can fit into a modern, energetic and fast-growing team, and who will take pride in what they achieve with their choir group. What they don’t want: someone who is only in it for the money, someone with less than high standards and who just wants to fill an evening or two with some teaching.

This is a great opportunity for the right person with a chance to grow within an exciting company that truly cares and looks after their team. Opportunities for future career progression in the leadership team for the right person.

Closing date for application: No closing date as such, but launching Cambridgeshire groups in September / October 2017. Apply now

Frequently Asked Questions

 

• Where will I be working?

If you applied for a particular location (i.e. Dereham), then you will be working in a venue in that particular location. If you are applying on a speculative basis to ask us to open an Invidia Choir for you in your area, then you would be working in a village hall or church hall in your area (if this is outside of East Anglia, you may be asked to view the venue and give us your opinion before we agree on a series of bookings).

 

• If I am successful, when will I start working for Invidia Voices and running my own choir group/s?

We tend to only start choirs at a particular time of year. These times are September and January however this is subject to change.

If you applying on a speculative basis, timings will be confirmed, however we expect the interview and set up process to take no longer than two months so please take this into account when making your application (e.g. if you would like to start working for us in January, please apply no later than end of October).

 

• How often will I be working and at what times?

Our choir rehearsals run from 7.30 pm until 9.00 pm.
We understand that some choirs out there ask their tutors to commit to running a minimum of 3 or 4 choir groups per week. We do not. If you are going to be working in East Anglia, there is no minimum weekly requirement. However, if you are based outside of East Anglia, we do ask that you run a minimum of 2 choir groups (therefore you work 2 nights per week).

 

• How do I get paid?

You will be paid monthly by bank transfer.

 

• How much preparation and planning will I have to do?

This is something we are very good at. Our founder Matt Emmerson arranges a new song each term. He is a great arranger and we are very proud of our funky 6 part arrangements. These will be uploaded to the Tutor Area of our website, where you can download the conductor’s score, as well as backing tracks. We also book a professional singer to come into our studio and record each of the section parts onto the backing track, so that you can hear these if you so wish, although these exist mainly for the benefit of member practice. All you have to do is just familiarise yourself with the arrangement as some point before Week 1 of each term.

We also send you a lesson plan that we ask you to follow, so you don’t even have to plan your lessons. (For those of you who like to be creative and don’t like the idea of following a lesson plan, please note that the lesson plan is there for structure purposes; we are not going to micromanage you. Where the lesson plan says “Warm up”, you will of course have the freedom to use any warm up exercises that you prefer and suit your choir group. We just ask that you follow our general structure, so that there is a sense of continuity amongst all of the Invidia Voices groups across the UK, but you will of course be able to bring your own style to the table).

 

• Will I have to do a lot of admin?

There is a small amount of admin involved, but if you are organised, this is less than 10- minutes a week. On top of your existing choir members, you will have an influx of new prospective members on a regular basis: we call these our “Free Tasters”. The office will send you a list of names of free tasters that have booked in to try out your choir on a weekly basis. All you need to do is let us know  which free tasters attended your session, which were a “No Show”, and whether there were any new enrolments. You will be pleased to hear that there is a system in place for this and we have made this process super easy for you. Each choir tutor is asked to pick 2 particularly friendly and supportive people out of all of their choir members to be their “Buddies”. They will welcome free tasters, get them to sign in and fill out the feedback form at the end. This is how you will know who came and whether they signed up or not. Your job is to let the office have this info by 10am the following morning. There will also be some printing and the updating of Free Taster books on a term by term basis, to make sure the correct song for that term is in the book.

 

• How long are your terms?

Our term follow school terms loosely. They tend to be either 6 or 7 weeks long, with a short 4 week term in the summer. We do have a week off at the end of each term and this may not always coincide with school holidays.

 

• How many songs do you cover in one term?

We only cover one new song per term and there is a reason for this. Our members are all amateur singers and they need time to really internalise a professional 6 part score. There can be aspects of timing and dynamics that can be hard to grasp and, with 6 sections (S1, S2, A1, A2, B & T), it will take time to teach each group their part – and we all know that practice is the mother of all skill. Also, our members have a high level of pride and satisfaction attached to the last week of term, when the song is recorded and they get to show it off to other Invidia groups on the Invidia Voices Facebook page. However, we definitely don’t want our members to feel bored, so we make sure we revisit old songs during warm ups and performance practices at various parts of our rehearsals. This is all set out for you in your lesson plan.

 

• What equipment do I need to get started?

All you need is a keyboard and a small PA system to play backing tracks from – and a way of recording the choir on the last night of each term, which could be as simple as using your phone to record them. And of course, a ton of enthusiasm!

 

• What type of songs will I be teaching?

Invidia Voices is an upbeat and funky kind of choir. We are not a religious choir or a traditional choral ensemble. We perform songs that are well known hits from the rock, soul, motown, pop and funk genres; anything that makes you want to get up and boogie! Some of our previous songs are: Higher and Higher, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Everlasting Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, Say a little Prayer, Boogie Wonderland, Set Fire to the Rain, Kiss from a Rose, Proud Mary, Titanium, Counting Stars, Take another little piece of my heart, Living on a Prayer, Dancing in the Street, Somebody to Love, Don’t Stop Me Now, Signed Sealed Delivered, Uptown Funk, California Dreaming… You get the idea!

 

• Can I choose my own songs?

No, all Invidia groups work on the same song at the same time, and these are picked and arranged centrally at the Norwich office and then sent out to all of the tutors, wherever they may be based. You may, however, take part in the voting process that takes place yearly around October time to pick the following year’s songs.

 

• What qualifications do I need?

No official qualifications are necessary but musical talent and experience is a must. We are looking for great musicians who have performing experience and have mastered at least one instrument, not for people with a music degree who have never been in a band. Your attitude and enthusiasm will also play a massive part in being successful.

 

• Is there a probationary period?

Yes. The first 3 months of your contract are a probationary period. It might be that, even after the initial assessment and interview process, it turns out that you are not the best match for Invidia Voices. If this should be the case, Invidia Voices reserve the right to terminate your contract with immediate effect.

 

• What will the interview process consist of and where will it take place?

The Invidia interview process is two-fold. For the first part, you will be asked to lead an existing choir group in Norwich for 10 minutes. We will ask you to prepare a fun and engaging warm up for an existing Invidia Group and then observe the rest of the session. The second part of the interview will consist of a chat and a play at the Invidia office (also in Norwich) the following morning. If you are successful, you will be required to attending a Singing Workshop approximately one week before the launch of your new choir. This is to meet potential new members, and is a further observation opportunity to really understand our ethos and teaching style.

 

• Do I have to create my own arrangements?

No, these are created centrally and sent out to all of our tutors.

 

• Do I have to recruit my own choir members?

No! We are aware that a lot of other choirs out there try to turn their tutors and musicians into sales people, but we do not. We are committed to ongoing advertising for each and every one of our choir groups, and to providing you with a regular influx of new free tasters. So, you do not have to recruit new members. However, should someone sign up because of your direct referral, you will get a £25 bonus per sign up.
Moreover, whilst it is true that you are not expected to recruit new members, you will be expected to treat our advertising efforts respectfully and do all that you can to retain those that we have worked so hard to recruit by delivering fun and engaging sessions and providing a social and pleasurable environment. As your pay goes up with each member that joins your group, you may want to actively spread the word about your choir group, but this is not a contractual requirement.

 

• I already work for another choir organisation (or run my own). Can I still apply?

No. We are afraid this would constitute a conflict of interest and would not be accepted. The only way you could apply to work for Invidia Voices is if you stopped working for the other choir organisation.

 

• Do I have to commit any more time apart from my own choir session?

Choir members have a strong desire to show off what they have learnt to the public and put on performances and flash mobs. Our records show that, unless members have an outlet to perform at least once every couple of terms, they may lose interest and leave. You also have a financial interest in ensuring your members stay, so it will be worth your while to create performance opportunities for your group/s. We ask that our tutors put on up to five non-paid performances a year for their group, this could be anything from a sing-along at your local pub, to a full public performance.

 

• I am a vocal coach. Am I allowed to advertise this to my members? Will Invidia expect a commission for this?

You are free to advertise your singing teaching services to Invidia members and we do not expect a commission for this.

 

• Do I need my own Public Liability Insurance?

Use of your own equipment will be covered under Invidia Voices Public Liability however this is for public damage and/or injury only. We cannot cover loss or damage to your own equipment and we recommend that you take out your own policy for this.

 

• The job advert says £75-£150? How much will I get exactly?

You will be paid £2.50 per member per session. Our groups average out at around 50 members at the moment and we will not run a group below 25.

 

• What do I do if I am ill and I cannot attend a rehearsal?

If you are successful and are offered a position as an Invidia Tutor, you will be asked to sign a contract that specifies that under no circumstances can an Invidia rehearsal be cancelled. It will be your responsibility to source an “understudy” who is ready to cover for you, in case of illness, holiday or even last minute emergency (we can put you in touch with existing Invidia Tutors in your area, and they may well be able to help).  It is your responsibility  to ensure the understudy has all the resources and equipment they will need to run a successful session.

 

• Will I have to attend lots of training courses? If so, where will these be held?

There will be 2 tutor training sessions per year and these will be in Norwich.

 

• Will I need to sign a contract?

Yes. If you would like to see a copy of our contracts before applying, then please email [email protected]

 

• How long am I tied in for once I sign your contract?

There is no tie-in period. However, we do require a 50 days’ notice period, should you decide to leave us.

 

• Is there an initial investment?

No. (Unless you do not already own a keyboard or small PA system, in which case you may need to purchase these – or lease existing Invidia Voices equipment).