The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music education: Here is the latest update on the search for a new director of University Opera.

By Jacob Stockinger

Recently, a reader asked The Ear about the status of the nationwide search for a new artistic director of University Opera after two years of having David Ronis (below, in a photo by Luke Delalio) as a popular guest director from New York City after the retirement of William Farlow.

That’s when word came from Martha Fischer  (below), professor of collaborative piano at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. Fischer is the head of the search committee to find a new director of the opera program.

Here is what Professor Fischer sent: her official update with the PVL (Professional Vacancy Listing) attached:

Writes Fischer as a prefatory comment: “We are incredibly fortunate, thanks to the Karen K. Bishop fund, to be able to search for a full-time tenure track Assistant Professor of Opera. At a time when the University as a whole is feeling extreme budget pressures, it is indeed something to celebrate.

“We are currently accepting applications from a broad and diverse pool of applicants with a deadline of Dec. 1, 2015.

“We are following the University of Wisconsin‘s strict guidelines about how searches are conducted to ensure a fair and equitable process.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to announce a new opera director sometime in the spring.”

The Ear notes that under Wisconsin’s open record laws, there will be no word about the dozens of individual applicants until the finalist stage of the search. That is designed to help protect the current jobs of applicants who do not make it into the pool of four or five finalists who are invited to visit the campus. (Below is a photo by Michael R. Anderson from the most recent production, “The Marriage of Figaro” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.)

Marriage of Figaro dress rehearsal. Tia Cleveland (Marcellina), Joel Rathmann (Figaro), Anna Whiteway (Susanna), Thomas Weis (Bartolo).

Here is the official notice for the UW-Madison School of Music Position Vacancy Listing for the Karen K. Bishop Director of Opera:

“The School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invites applications for an Artistic Director of University Opera and teacher of operatic performance, interpretation, and literature.

“This is a full-time, tenure-track appointment at the Assistant Professor level beginning August 2016. Successful candidates will demonstrate evidence of an established or emerging national/international career, along with an ability to enhance the School’s educational mission and overall commitment to teaching.

“Candidates will be expected to pursue creative activities or research interests appropriate to a tenure-track position.

“Candidates will also be expected to help recruit and teach a diverse student body of undergraduate and graduate students, to advise and mentor students, to serve on graduate degree committees, and to carry out leadership and service within the School, College, and University.

Duties:

• Serve as Artistic Director of University Opera
  • –  Organize, administer and coordinate all facets of the program, recruiting and fundraising as necessary 

  • –  Direct and supervise all facets of two major productions each year 

• Coordinate and co-teach the University Opera Workshop Course

– Prepare scenes and productions, including stage movement and character development;

• Promote and participate in local and state outreach programs
• Nurture relationships and serve as liaison with community and regional arts organizations
• Teach related courses as needed and according to the candidate’s expertise
• Supervise doctoral minors in opera/voice coaching and in opera production
• Minimum Qualifications:
• Master’s degree with significant professional experience
• Proven excellence as an opera director in the professional and/or academic setting
• Comprehensive knowledge of operatic literature, styles and traditions
• Ability to pursue research and/or creative activity and service to the profession at the national/international 
level
• Ability to teach effectively in the classroom and in rehearsal, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels
• Ability to guide research and advise on the preparation of graduate documents and exams
• Ability to work effectively and collaborate within the School of Music and with outside groups and 
community arts organizations
• Ability to serve as advisor for doctoral minors
• Commitment to recruitment for the School of Music
• Ability to collaborate with the voice faculty, School of Music, and university in developing and planning for 
the opera program

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD/DMA/MFA completed
• Ability to conduct/lead musical rehearsals
• Ability to coach singers from the piano
• Fluency in standard operatic languages (French, German, Italian, English)
• Experience as an operatic performer
• 
Salary: $65,000 (minimum)

(Below is a photo of the University Opera’s 2011 production of Giacomo Puccini‘s “La Bohème.”)