Director Search

The West Towns Chorus, a premiere men's barbershop chorus, is seeking a new music director.  We are located in Downers Grove, IL, about 20 miles west of Chicago.

Joe Krones, our director for the past 5 years, is moving out of state in the near future. Joe has taken us to three International contests as director, for which we are most grateful. It is a habit we wish to continue.

The Chicagoland West Suburban Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, of which the Chorus is a part, was chartered by the Society in 1948 and won its first District Championship in 1960. We have represented the Illinois District a total of sixteen times in International contests and have finished as a Top Five medalist seven times. In 1987 The West Towns Chorus won the International Championship. Our most recent District Championship was in 2008.

Over the past year the Music Team of the chorus has instituted a program with the motto The Drive to 85.  One of our goals is to have 85 men on the risers for every show and contest. More importantly, we are demanding of ourselves that we always sing at and perform at an "85%" level at the least, making us, in barbershop contest terms, an "A"-level chorus.

We have always been a highly entertaining chorus and will continue so to be. Our emphasis now and in the future will be on constant improvement in singing across the chorus. We are not doing this to win contests, per se. Rather, we are interested in excellent performance for our audiences such that any musically astute audience member would deem our performance one of the highest quality. If we attain that goal, we feel that contest success will come as a by-product of our efforts.

The individual we seek would, preferably, have barbershop experience, but other factors are essential:

·         Training in choral direction

·         Experience with large a cappella ensembles

·         Experience with vocal coaching

·         If not experienced in barbershop, the ability to quickly pick up the conventions, requirements and sound quality of fine barbershop singing

·         Willingness and ability to work closely with a strong and knowledgeable Music Team

·         Willingness to foster the training and growth of a strong corps of assistant directors

Desirable characteristics:

·         Music degree or comparable musical expertise or experience

·         Associations or connections with capable arrangers

We also are also beginning a quartet development program and will expect our director to be supportive of this effort and to assist with our quartets.

Candidates should send resumes/vitas to: search@westtowns.org. Please address the above criteria in your submission.