Head of Aldeburgh Young Musicians
Job Description & Person Specification
Snape Maltings
Snape Maltings is a unique place of energy and inspiration for music and the arts. One of the world’s leading centres of music and a visitor destination of outstanding natural beauty, it is an international performance centre set in stunning landscape on the Suffolk coast, with artist development and education at its heart.
In March 2015, the Snape Maltings site was put up for sale. Aldeburgh Music made the strategic decision to acquire the whole site, therefore securing its place in the cultural landscape in Suffolk, the UK and beyond. In 2017, we re-branded as Snape Maltings and launched a single website which now encompasses everything that takes place here
The acquisition of the site has empowered us to develop new and ambitious plans for the future. The next 5 years will be a period of transition whilst we work on a masterplan to realise these ambitions. This will include bringing back to life a number of derelict buildings on site in order to grow our facilities (more beds/more spaces) as well as repositioning our existing programme to allow for growth.
Whilst continuing to grow and develop our role as an international performance centre, we will expand on opportunities born out of Britten’s vision to be useful to his community, locally rooted yet international in outlook. We will build on our existing reputation as a National Centre of Excellence for Artist Development as well as playing an increasingly vital role in the national agenda around music and wellbeing. This commitment to artist development and ‘wellbeing’ will underpin our future.
Snape Maltings’ increasingly diverse year-round programme of events reaches out to an ever wider public. Annually, the site hosts hundreds of events including the world-renowned Aldeburgh Festival and Snape Proms. Alongside this and feeding into the performance programme is the Creative Campus:
The Learning and Inclusion department runs inspirational community programmes, including the mass-participation singing project Friday Afternoons and long-term wellbeing projects with schools, communities, people living with dementia and prisoners.
Aldeburgh Young Musicians provides exceptional young musicians with a unique training model and a broad programme of artist development opportunities.
The Britten–Pears Young Artist Programme and Residency Programme give musicians the time, space and support to develop and create new work and new skills.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Title: Head of Aldeburgh Young Musicians
Reporting to:Director, Creative Campus
Responsible for:Aldeburgh Young Musicians Coordinator
Aldeburgh Young Musicians Assistant
Place of work:The post is based in Snape, Suffolk.
Contract:Full time, permanent
Head of Aldeburgh Young Musicians (AYM) sits within the Creative Campus Leadership Team, along with Director Creative Campus, Head of Artist Development, Head of Artistic Planning, Artistic Planning Coordinator, Head of Learning & Inclusion and Technical Coordinator.
Overall Purpose:
The Head of AYM is responsible for the lead and effective delivery of the work of the Centre for Advanced Training (CAT), which includes responsibility for all artistic and strategic planning, safeguarding, liaison and communication regionally and nationally. They advocate for and represent AYM within Snape Maltings and work closely with other Heads of Department across the organisation, contributing to the overarching vision of the Creative Campus.
The Head of AYM leads the AYM team, ensuring they are managed and nurtured in their roles.
In a ‘typical’ year, AYM delivers around 141 days of activity, with over 50 intensive projects/courses open to all its students. This includes approximately ten five-day residencies, eight AYM Weekends (Chamber and Specialist), eight Open House weekends (including: AYM Elements, VocalLab and Mentoring), as well as ten schools’ workshops across the eastern region.
AYM is also responsible for the coordination and delivery of the East Anglia Young Composer Competition.
Head of AYM works closely with the regional Music Hubs (Cambridge, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk & Suffolk), together with the regional organisations, Britten Sinfonia Academy and Pro Corda.
Specific Responsibilities:
Programme
▪Act as the main ‘face’ of AYM, developing awareness and understanding of the scheme and promoting it regionally and nationally in order to build profile and recruitment
▪Oversee the planning, scheduling and delivery of a balanced and innovative programme annually of residential courses, performances and weekends, including the full AYM scheme, the AYM Apprentice programme, AYM Elements, AYM Chamber strand and VocalLab. This includes regular evaluation and development of the scheme and its programme, together with the long-term strategic vision
▪Appoint, liaise and advise professional artists, including negotiation of fees
▪Develop and implement marketing and publicity initiatives, including the writing and coordinating the production and mailing of all Aldeburgh Young Musicians print
▪Work with the AYM team to manage the day to day running of courses, including attending courses and weekend events to ensure that they run smoothly
External and Internal Relationships
▪Develop and nurture good working relationships with a variety of partners, networks and stakeholders, including regional music education hubs, regional and national ensembles and orchestras
▪Attend Music & Dance Scheme (MDS) national meetings of CAT Directors, Junior Department Heads and Specialist Music Boarding Schools (approx. three times per year)
▪Manage the implementation and annual reportage of the Music & Dance National Grant Scheme – maintaining frequent clear contact with the Department for Education
▪Attend internal meetings as appropriate, including Leadership Team meetings and Planning meetings
▪Collaborate with other internal departments as appropriate, ensuring excellent communication
Financial and Reporting
▪Build and manage the AYM budget – working closely with Head of Finance and Creative Campus colleagues to manage and deliver the scheme within the established, approved budget
▪Work closely with the Development Team to identify potential sources of additional funding and fundraise/write reports as necessary
▪Produce monthly management reports, monthly budget forecasts and annual Council meeting reports
Safeguarding
▪Ensure the initiative is compliant with current legislation in child protection, disability discrimination act, health and safety and employment law.
▪The Head of AYM is Snape Maltings’ Designated Safeguarding Officer
Students
▪Plan and implement annual Auditions, giving feedback and advice to all candidates
▪Establish clear procedures for the means testing of students
▪Contribute to the mentoring of the students who become Aldeburgh Young Musicians, developing a key relationship between Snape Maltings and the students, their parents and their teachers
▪Liaising with the AYMs, AYM Apprentices, their parents, teachers and appropriate artists
▪Establish clear procedures for the annual performance testing of students, creating their Individual Learning Plans and advising of individual progression routes
Team
▪Lead and manage the AYM team, ensuring they are supported and developed in their roles
▪Identify training and development opportunities for the AYM team as appropriate
PERSON SPECIFICATION:
Essential
▪A creative, strategic thinker and musician with a broad and diverse knowledge of music and an exceptional understanding of quality
▪A strong team leader with experience of developing team members
▪Proven track record in the development and delivery of music based programmes
▪Experience of working within the arts and/or the education sector at a management level
▪Proven track record in dealing with gifted and talented children and young people
▪Excellent understanding of safeguarding
▪Excellent verbal and written communication skills with a wide variety of groups and individuals
▪Proven networking ability and experience (within artistic and educational landscapes)
Desirable
▪Music graduate
▪Experience of mentoring children and young people in an arts and/or education environment
▪Ability to challenge and respond to challenge constructively
▪Experience of leading difficult conversations (with parents, artists and teachers)
▪An understanding of the issues facing both the arts and education sectors
▪Able to use excel and databases to manage and analyse data
Additional Requirements
▪Work flexible and unsocial hours as required, to ensure that key deadlines are met and tasks and events are managed and delivered to plan
▪Comply with Snape Maltings’ Enhanced DBS Check regulations
▪Full clean driving license and own transport
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