Lecturer of Vocal Music - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki) is now recruiting a Lecturer of Vocal Music for a full-time and permanent position starting 1 August 2024.

Working environment

You will work in the Department of Vocal Music in Helsinki. There are currently approximately 40 majoring vocal arts students in the department. About half of the instruction is provided for other departments, e.g. for students of church music and music education. You find further information about the study program of the vocal arts on our website. Please also see the values and ethical principles of our university.

Tasks of the Lecturer

Your main task is providing instruction in classical vocal arts and related group subjects to all students of vocal arts at the Sibelius Academy. Depending on your areas of strengths, your duties will also include other special area / areas of vocal music education (e.g. opera, lied, vocal art pedagogy, contemporary music, old music, church vocal arts and church music, different genres) and tasks of the doctoral education.

The main emphasis of teaching is on bachelor's and master's level education. In addition, the tasks also include teaching Junior Academy students. In addition to teaching the department’s vocal arts students, you will teach students from other departments as well.

In addition to teaching, the artistic activities of the department, active monitoring of the field, participation in working groups and projects of the department, study assessments and student admissions are part of your work. You will also participate in the development and quality-assurance processes as well as in the work of the university's administrative bodies as necessary.

Qualification requirements and selection criteria

Eligibility for the position of lecturer of the Uniarts Helsinki requires a master's degree or equivalent artistic merits, versatile teaching skills and experience in utilising artistic activities and/or research in teaching, as well as pedagogical studies or pedagogical experience demonstrated in some other way. In addition, merits in activities in the field of art and/or research, experience in domestic or international cooperation and societal influence are required. These general eligibility requirements are described in more detail on our website. We expect from you as a lecturer of vocal music (in addition to the above):

• a Master of Music or an equivalent applicable master’s degree; However, strong experience acquired from practical work along with particular artistic merits may, however, compensate for the lack of a degree
• excellent pedagogical skills
• teaching experience in a higher education institution
• merits in instruction of tenor, baritone and bass voice types and related competence, as well as knowledge of the repertoire of these voice fields
• artistic merits, i.e. experience as a vocal artist (opera, lied and orchestral soloists)
• experience performing tenor, baritone or bass type repertoire
• familiarity with the phonetics and command of the most important languages used in vocal music
• excellent cooperation and interaction skills
• track record in planning, organizing, conducting and developing instruction and artistic activities of this field
• experience and ability to supervise students in their studies and transition to working life
• experience of cooperation in networks in the field

A doctoral degree, pedagogical studies, teacher qualifications and experience in expert tasks in the field are considered an advantage.

The applicant's suitability will be assessed both on the basis of the available documentation and in teaching demonstrations and interviews, which will be held on 29 April 2024 in Helsinki. The tentative content of the demonstrations (duration ~1 hour 15 minutes / candidate) is the following: artistic performance, 15 minutes (applicant may choose the repertoire), teaching demonstration and an interview, 15 minutes.

Language proficiency

The languages of instruction at the University of the Arts Helsinki are Finnish, Swedish and English. Vocal music is taught mainly in Finnish or English.Applicants are required to have a good command of the language of instruction; for international applicants, we only require proficiency in English. Language skills are assessed in relation to work tasks.

Salary and working hours

The salary is determined in accordance with the salary system of Finnish universities. The demand level of the post is on levels 5–6. In addition, a personal salary component will be paid. In a full-time (100%) position, the gross monthly salary at the beginning of employment will be approximately 3,400–4,400 euros depending on the person's experience and competence.

The total annual working time in a full-time lecturer position is 1,612 hours. The position requires working and living in Finland for the duration of the employment relationship.

How to apply

Apply for the post on 21 March 2024 (UTC +2) at the latest through electronic recruitment system. Your application must include the following documents as PDF files written in English:

• Open application / motivation letter
• Curriculum vitae
• Teaching portfolio (instructions for compiling a teaching portfolio on our website)
• Document with links to some current artistic performances (1-3) or an audio/video sample

Without jeopardising the uniform treatment of applicants, Uniarts Helsinki reserves the right to leave a position unfilled or continue the application period.

The position may include teaching underage students. A criminal record extract must be presented to Uniarts before a contract of employment can be signed for the job in question. The Act on Checking the Criminal Background of Persons Working with Children (504/2002) obliges Uniarts to ask persons working with people under 18 years of age to present an extract from their criminal record (when the employment lasts longer than three months).

Further information

Details concerning the advertised post, please contact Head of Department Tero Valtonen, tel. +358 50 336 4919 or Vice Dean Jenni Lättilä +358 50 462 8964 and for further details concerning the application process and recruitment system, please contact HR Planning Officer Anne Kilpeläinen tel. +358 50 348 4539. Our emails are in form: firstname.lastname@uniarts.fi.