Prince of Peace Catholic Church is seeking applicants for the position of Director of Music and Choirmaster to continue our parish’s renowned sacred music program, comprising five choirs, two organs, and three weekly sung Masses. The full-time Director of Music oversees and collaborates with the full-time Associate Director of Music and Organist, who currently handles organ needs for all liturgies, as well as the part-time Pastoral Associate for Children’s Music (jointly appointed as music teacher of our parish school). The Director’s musical responsibilities are first and foremost as a choral director, leading the semi-professional adult choir, the Gregorian chant schola serving our weekly Latin Mass, and the youth and children’s choirs in collaboration with the children’s music specialist. Our ideal candidate is an exceptional choral director and singer with extensive knowledge of Catholic liturgy and sacred music, including Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony of all eras, who excels equally at high-level music making with professional musicians and at building a musical culture with volunteer singers of all ages.
Our parish, located in the beautiful and thriving Greenville, SC, area, is a dynamic and growing parish that relishes the liturgical traditions and musical inheritance of our Catholic faith. Our church is currently served by a 2002 Allen Renaissance digital organ, as well as our newest addition, a beautiful 2025 Klop continuo organ. Our choral rehearsal space is home to a recently refurbished Bechstein concert grand piano originally purchased in Germany to accompany Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
Our sung liturgies include a Saturday 5p cantor-and-organ Mass, a Sunday 10a choir-and-organ Mass (for which the adult choir, youth choir, or children’s choirs sing on rotation), and a Sunday 12n Latin Mass with full Gregorian ordinary and proper sung by our St. Gregory schola. Our St. Cecilia adult choir currently includes nine paid choral scholars and a number of very fine volunteers and typically sings two motets per week as well as choral mass settings for the major feasts of the year, often with instrumental accompaniment. In the past three years, this has included the Byrd: Mass for Five, Charpentier: Messe de Minuit, Kerll: Requiem, Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli, H. Praetorius: Missa Benedicam Dominum, Reed: Missa Verbum caro (premiere), Rheinberger: Cantus Missae, ed. Haazen: Missa Luba, Howells: Collegium Regale Communion Service, Michna: Missa super ‘Již slunce z hvêzdy vyšlo,’ and Monteverdi: Messa da Cappella, in addition to numerous ambitious polyphonic motets. The choral year typically runs from Labor Day to Corpus Christi, with only cantors in the summer months.
Classification: Exempt, Full-Time (includes evening and weekend hours)
Salary Range: $65,000+, plus benefits, commensurate with education and experience. Weddings and funerals remunerated separately.
Qualifications
A bachelor’s degree in music is required, and a master’s degree in choral conducting or sacred music strongly preferred.
Required Skills
- Exceptional skills as a choral director and conductor
- Intimate knowledge of Catholic sacred music and liturgy in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary forms, including Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony
- Excellent singing ability and ability to train singers of all ages
- Sufficient keyboard skills to rehearse choirs and cantors; some facility at the organ preferred
- Competence with InDesign, LilyPond, Gregorio, and/or other software required to produce high quality worship aids in-house
- Ability to motivate and train both professional and volunteer musicians of all ages
Essential Job Functions
Musical Functions
- Plan and oversee music for all sung liturgies, including hymns, chant, motets, mass settings, and other occasional music
- Recruit, manage, rehearse, and conduct the St. Cecilia adult choir and St. Gregory chant schola, as well as the Youth Choir and Junior Choir in collaboration with the Pastoral Associate for Children’s Music
- Cantor chanted Latin masses and other prominent moments of certain sung liturgies
- Oversee the recruitment and training of cantors for sung liturgies in collaboration with the other music staff
- Collaborate with the Pastoral Associate for Children’s Music on annual summer camps, choir retreats, or other parish music projects
Extramusical Functions
- Draft and print worship aids for all sung liturgies, including funerals but excluding weddings
- Supervise the Assistant Director of Music and Organist as well as the parochial duties of the School Music Teacher and Pastoral Associate for Children’s Music
- Recruit and manage paid professional choir members (“choral scholars”) and contract instrumentalists
- Prepare and manage the music program budget
- Purchase all specialty paper required for worship aids
- Oversee the church sound system
- Attend weekly staff meetings
To Apply
Please submit the following materials via this Google Form. Submissions sent by email will not be reviewed. Questions may be directed to Mr. Phil Head, Director of Administration, by email.
- Cover letter addressing your background in Catholic sacred music and liturgy, your experience with choral programs of similar scope, and your vision for sacred music in a parish setting
- Curriculum vitae
- At least two recordings (audio or video links preferred) demonstrating your work as a choral conductor, ideally including sacred polyphony and/or Gregorian chant
- A repertoire list of significant works you have conducted
- Contact information for three professional references, including at least one priest or pastor who can speak to your liturgical formation and sensibility
- Optional: A sample worship aid or other typeset music document you have produced
****PLEASE NOTE DIRECTIONS FOR APPLICATION AND ITEMS REQUIRED. ANY SUBMISSIONS NOT SENT PER APPLICATION PROCESS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. ****
Work Authorization:
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire. The Diocese of Charleston does not provide visa sponsorship. Successful candidates will be required to complete Form I-9 and present acceptable documentation verifying identity and employment authorization.
