Conductor--South Side Memories Choir

• Older adults living with memory issues or concern about their memory (including people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment), their care partners (or “singing buddies”), and volunteer singers — rehearsing and performing together in a non-auditioned choir, in a space of trust, respect and discretion (no diagnosis disclosure required)

• Fall 2026 Pilot (Sept–Dec) and Spring 2027 (Feb–May)
• Weekly, 90 minutes, 12–13 weeks per session; day/time TBD with Community Advisory Board input; starts late September 2026

• One free public concert at the end of each session

• $11,000 for the full season (Fall + Spring), paid monthly; professional accompanist provided

• July 18, 2026

• You’ll lead weekly rehearsals and an end-of-session concert for a brand-new choir serving South Side older adults, with repertoire centered on the gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and soul traditions of Black Chicago. You’ll help shape this program from the ground up, alongside a Community Advisory Board (CAB), with monthly check-ins with the Artistic Director and a handful of meetings each session with the choir coordinator and volunteer team.
  
  You’ll also represent the choir at community events as its public face.

• Many of our singers live with cognitive impairment. About 30 minutes into a rehearsal, something we call the “30-minute miracle” tends to happen: through breathing and singing together, alertness and social engagement “switch on” and often last well beyond the session. This choir is community-rooted and CAB-guided, with repertoire and culture shaped specifically around South Side history and tradition.

• Bachelor’s degree (conducting, voice, piano, or related)
• 5+ years’ professional choral conducting experience
• Deep knowledge of South Side Black musical traditions
• Warmth, patience, flexibility, and a genuine servant’s heart; comfort working with a vulnerable population
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; comfort as the public face of a new community choir

Submit a CV outlining your relevant experience.

One or both of these would be a plus but are not required: (1) a video of you conducting a choir in performance or in a worship setting -- to get a sense of your presence in front of a choir; (2) a video of you leading a rehearsal, showing how you relate to singers as people.

Sounds Good Choir (SGC) is the second-largest choir organization for older adults in the U.S., serving 600+ singers annually across nine choirs in Chicago and its suburbs. SGC runs two programs:
Sounds Good Choirs, for cognitively healthy adults 55 and up, and Good Memories Choirs, for people with early-stage dementia and their care partners. SGC is nationally recognized for its free public concerts, partnerships, and research on well-being in older adults.

The South Side Good Memories Initiative is community-rooted and substantially redesigned — not simply transplanted from our other locations — to reflect the culture, history, and lived realities of South Side communities. It’s guided by a Community Advisory Board (CAB) and facilitated by Dr. Treasyri Williams-Wood of Willwood Consulting.

• Vision: A South Side choir where music, memory, and community meet — a place where every voice belongs, dignity is honored, and belonging is the point.
• Membership in the Choir is open, non-auditioned, and free of cost or diagnosis requirements. It includes adults living with dementia or MCI at any stage; “buddies” (family, care partners, friends — including those who supported someone now deceased); volunteer singers who serve as musical anchors; and any older adult seeking a brain-healthy music community. Categories are fluid by design. Everyone wears a first-name-only name tag, with no visible distinction between singers, volunteers, and staff.
  
  There’s no registration fee; participants are invited to donate as they’re able, and public concerts are free to attend. Full background is available upon request.