Clarinet Instructor, Sistema Ravinia (Austin Nucleo)

Ravinia® is both North America’s longest-running not-for-profit music festival and its most artistically diverse. Over 100 different events by a mix of classical, rock, pop, jazz, R&B, indie, and country performers make up a typical summer season on our two open-air and two indoor stages. Each year the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is featured in six weeks of concerts, many with Chief Conductor Marin Alsop. During the same summer months, the Ravinia Steans Institute provides young professional classical and jazz musicians with career-advancing training and concert settings.

Offstage and year-round, Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play education programs engage 50,000 children and adults—in schools with little to no music curriculum, in our Chicagoland communities, and at our 36-acre park—in our mission to make music equitably accessible to all.

Sistema Ravinia is an intensive orchestral music education program that provides daily music training for students at two schools in the Austin community. Participating students meet after school throughout the year at their nucleo (program site) and are taught in sectionals and full orchestra. Shaped by the philosophy of the noted El Sistema model, Ravinia has embraced the notion of transforming groups of children into communities of musicians who in turn transform their communities. Students receive mentorship from teachers and administrators that make them feel loved and valued as an asset to their nucleo community.

Sistema Ravinia launched in 2012 and Circle Rock was the first school to join the initiative. In 2019, the Sistema Ravinia Austin Nucleo expanded to add GR Clark. Students from Circle Rock study wind, brass, and percussion instruments and students from GR Clark learn string instruments. Students meet at their individual schools two to three days per week and join together in the Kehrein Center for the Arts to rehearse as a full symphony orchestra once per week.

• Teach repertoire, technique and music theory through woodwind sectionals and clarinet studios
• Assist with large ensemble rehearsals as needed
• Facilitate with a team of teachers daily transitions on site including student movement between snack time, rehearsals, and dismissal
• Communicate student behavioral, musical, social, and/or attendance challenges with administration
• Foster student empowerment and focus on the holistic education of each child
• Engage students through the development and implementation of creative lesson plans that foster social and musical growth
• Active participation and collaboration in term planning and professional learning sessions to help create and implement an innovative curriculum and pedagogy that supports each child holistically
• Assess student progress and ensure curriculum alignment on an ongoing basis

• Enthusiasm for El Sistema and its philosophy of social change through music
• Interest and ability to be a motivational mentor and role model for students, parents, and community
• Superior interpersonal skills

• Experience working with groups of children, youth orchestras, or in the El Sistema music education model
• Experience and desire to work with children from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds
• Bachelor’s degree in music or 2-3 years related work experience

• The regular teaching schedule for this position is as follows: Tuesdays from 2:45-5:15pm and Wednesdays from 1:45-5:30pm at the Kehrein Center for the Arts in the Austin community of Chicago. Some evenings and weekends may be required for concerts and special events; these dates will be communicated at the start of each program term.
• Sistema Ravinia programming runs throughout the school year and 3 weeks during the summer.
• Interaction with young students, parents and administrators where the safety of the students is paramount

Ravinia is an Equal Opportunity Employer

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.