Strings Teaching Artist

About Play On Philly 

Play On Philly (POP) is a non-profit organization that provides daily, after-school music instruction to over 300 K-12 students. We work in communities that historically have had little or no access to formal music education. 

We are seeking a Strings Teaching Artist for our music center location at St. Francis de Sales School. This Teaching Artist will conduct intermediate and beginner string ensembles as well as lead a 10-12 student violin studio class. This position could be filled by one Teaching Artist or split into two different roles. Please note whether your expertise is in teaching beginner students, intermediate level students, or both.

Job Description

Teaching Artists (TA) work collaboratively and independently to ensure students are making steady progress on their instruments, music literacy skills, and repertoire and can manage their class to create a safe, welcoming, and rigorous environment in their classrooms and at their Music Center, at-large. All POP TAs are responsible for encouraging students to adhere to the POP rules and guidelines for student citizenship.

As POP team members, TAs actively participate in professional development and continued education to cultivate and hone their teaching skills. TAs receive regular feedback and coaching on their job performance. Successful candidates are interested in cultivating their skills in group instrumental teaching and are excited to grow. 

This role is supervised by the Music Center’s Program Coordinator and works in partnership with the Director of Educational Programming, Music Director, and other POP TAs within specific instrument families. We are looking for lifelong learners, and collaboratively-natured individuals who enjoy and have experience working with school-aged children (K-12), are creative, and can problem-solve and multi-task. 

A successful candidate:

• You are passionate about music education.
• You are calm under pressure.
• You have experience with teaching groups of five or more students at once.
• You are excited to serve a community through music. 

Requirements

• You are a professional musician.
• You have at least one year of formal music teaching experience with young people.
• You can work occasional nights and weekends as required.
• You have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

As a social justice organization, POP is committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace. Discrimination against race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability or genetic information is both illegal and against our organization’s values. If you would like to volunteer your demographic details strictly for informational purposes, you will be invited to respond to the optional section in the job application.

Our Community

POP is rooted in the community of Philadelphia. We welcome all applicants and invite our local community members to apply. We want to hear from you!

Salary Range

Salary is contingent upon class schedule and scope of work.

$5,600

Work Commitment

September – December 2022, with the potential for a second agreement for the January - June 2023 Session.

The schedule below is an estimate of the hours for this position.

Tuesdays through Fridays, 2:15 - 5:15pm

In lieu of a cover letter, please be prepared to answer the following questions: [250 word maximum per response]

• Why are you interested in POP?
• What do you like about working with children or young adults?
• Tell us about a teacher or role model who really influenced you.