E DON’T USUALLY SHARE about music director job openings, but this is a very special parish music program (and the message was forwarded to me by a friend of mine in the Order of Preachers). The Parish of St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Catherine of Siena, a parish of the Archdiocese of New York confided to the pastoral care of the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph, is looking for a Director of Music and Organist. The parish includes two churches: the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer and the Church of St. Catherine of Siena. The music director will direct the music program at both churches. The music program at the Parish draws on the liturgical tradition of the Catholic Church with special emphasis on the particular tradition of the Dominican order. A full job description can be found here.

This Dominican parish in New York is definitely a very busy and developed one. There are five weekend Masses with music and a Vespers service each week. They also have a long list of special feast days liturgies including Masses, Processions and Advent Lessons and Carols. The director will also be responsible for the arrangement of liturgical performances by local musical ensembles and occasional concerts of sacred music.

This is definitely a busy job, and probably one of those “dream jobs” for some of our readers. It looks like traditional Sacred Music plays a very important role in this parish and the friars do take the liturgy very seriously. I want to point out especially how the Propers are treated in this parish: the antiphons are chanted, in Latin or English, at every single sung Mass! This is one of the few parishes in the country that hold very high liturgical and musical standards.

So, if you are interested in the position, submit a curriculum vitae and a one-page statement of your philosophy of Catholic liturgical music to parish@svsc.info by May 9, 2016. Here is a video tour of the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer.