Assistant Professor in Clarinet

School of Music

Faculty Position Announcement

Assistant Professor of Clarinet

Position: Full-time, 9-month, tenure accruing faculty position

Date of Expected Hire: August 16, 2025

The School of Music at The University of Florida, College of the Arts invites applicants for an Assistant Professor in Clarinet. We seek an accomplished and versatile musician and teacher with national and international visibility who will help grow our undergraduate and graduate programs in clarinet, which include the BM, BA, MM, and DMA. 

The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. As artists and scholars, we embrace the complexity of our evolving human experience and seek to empower our students and faculty to shape that experience fearlessly through critical study, creative practice, and provocation. We seek a colleague who identifies as a change-maker. We seek a colleague who will prepare students to access and unsettle centers of power of any ideology in a radically changing world. We seek a colleague who will position emerging artists and researchers as catalysts for justice on local and global levels.

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty, staff and student body.

This position is covered by the United Faculty of Florida Contract.  You can view this employment union contract here https://hr.ufl.edu/manager-resources/employee-relations/union-contracts/united-faculty-of-florida-contract/.  At the University of Florida, faculty members may apply for tenure and/or promotion as soon as they feel their record meets University and unit criteria for distinction.  Faculty members may initiate this process at any time and are not required to wait until the end of the official tenure probationary period.

Responsibilities:   

Teaching

• Recruit, teach, and retain a robust studio of undergraduate and graduate students in applied clarinet
• Demonstrate healthy pedagogical knowledge and the ability to teach clarinet-related subjects as needed, such as woodwind literature, woodwind pedagogy, chamber music, woodwind ensembles, etc.
• Mentor graduate students and help them navigate the graduate degree process, including working with them to form graduate committees and provide guidance in the preparation and review of their final projects

Research and Creative Activity

• Maintain an active national and international research and creative activity profile in areas of specialization 
• Collaborate with faculty and peers in the field in performances

Service

• Participate in shared governance through service to the School, College and University
• Take on leadership roles and volunteer for service opportunities that benefit the community and the profession

SCHOOL OF MUSIC: Organized within the College of the Arts, the School of Music plays an important role in the academic and cultural life of the University, the College’s Creative Campus initiative and the community. The School has 40 full-time and nine adjunct faculty, serving some 200 graduate and 200 undergraduate music majors. Degree programs include B.A., B.M., M.M., D.M.A., and the Ph.D. in music education, composition, ethnomusicology, and historical musicology. Program emphases include performance, music education, theory, composition, music history and literature, ethnomusicology, conducting, and sacred music. The School of Music is also home to the UF Bands program, which includes “The Pride of the Sunshine” Gator Marching Band. School of Music facilities include the School of Music Building and Steinbrenner Band Hall, among others.  The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music. For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/music.

THE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: The mission of the College of the Arts is to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond.  We achieve the university’s mission by training professionals and educating students as artists and scholars, while developing their capacities for critical study, creative practice, and provocation.  The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,700 students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts under the direction of 135 faculty members in its three accredited schools— the School of Art + Art History, the School of Music, and the School of Theatre + Dance, and in the Center for Arts in Medicine, the Digital Worlds Institute, and the Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship. In addition, the college comprises the University Galleries, and the University level of the New World School of the Arts in Miami.

The University of Florida: The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation, ranked one of the top five best public universities in the nation in U.S. News & World Report. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world. Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural and societal benefit. UF is a graduate research institution with more than 50,000 students and membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Gainesville, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most livable cities, is located midway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the University and the community comprise the educational, medical and cultural center of North Central Florida, with outstanding resources such as the University of Florida Performing Arts (Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Squitieri Studio Theatre, the Baughman Center, University Auditorium), the Harn Museum of Art, the Florida Museum of Natural History and in the community, the Hippodrome State Theatre and Dance Alive National Ballet.

In addition to salary, the University of Florida (UF) offers low cost State Health plans, a number of Dental plans to fit you and your family’s needs, and Vision. Domestic partner coverage through GatorCare is also available. Optional plans such as life, disability, legal and accident insurance are also available.

UF provides a variety of leave programs including vacation, sick leave, 11 paid holidays, personal leave days, and family medical leave.  UF also provides the flexibility to deal with life’s challenges by offering paid family leave, eight full weeks of leave over a 24-month period.

Build a retirement roadmap with competitive pension plans, investment accounts and a host of voluntary add-ons, such as 457 deferred compensation and 403(b) plans.

UF Employees are also eligible for the GatorPerks discount program, which provides big savings at various business and retailers!

Explore UF’s plethora of benefit options here: FACULTY Benefits

$61,000 - $63,000 based on qualifications, with a comprehensive and highly competitive leave and benefits package.

The successful candidate must meet all of the following:

• Completed MM degree required (doctorate strongly preferred) with significant commensurate professional experience
• A documented record of professional performance and teaching in the classical tradition
• Experience in teaching applied clarinet and related courses in higher education. This may include graduate assistantship duties as the instructor of record
• Demonstrated capacity for effective engagement in recruitment and outreach
• Evidence of skill in designing and facilitating academic work that advances curiosity, inclusion, opportunity for all, open intellectual discourse, and the well-being of all in an environment of complex diversities

The successful candidate will meet some of the following:

• A documented record of achievement in the classical music performance field at a national level with potential for international development
• Experiences and skillsets that contribute to musical styles and traditions beyond classical
• A terminal degree (DM or DMA) in the field of music performance, and/or commensurate professional experience
• Teaching experience of three to five years beyond graduate assistantship at the university/college level
• Demonstrated record of performing, teaching, programming, and/or commissioning stylistically diverse repertoire
• Experience with directing clarinet ensembles, including programming, conducting, rehearsing, and overseeing library and other relevant school resources
• Evidence of a commitment to innovative and cross-disciplinary curricula 

• Proven record of effective engagement in recruitment and outreach
• Organizational, management and communication experience in the higher education setting
• Evidence of success in negotiation and collaboration toward creative and administrative goals
• We welcome any additional expertise that may complement the music program.

Application Deadline: Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until an applicant pool is established.  To ensure full consideration, all application materials must be submitted by January 2, 2025.  Applications received after January 2, 2025, may be considered at the discretion of the committee and/or hiring authority.

Application Process: Applications must be submitted via the University of Florida’s online application system.  Online applications must include the following: (1) a detailed letter of application that explains how you match the particular qualifications of this position and how your work and perspective will contribute to and enhance our transformative community; 2) a curriculum vitae; (3) a document with 3-5 video links of recent live solo and/or chamber performances; and (4) names and contact information of three professional references. The Search Committee may request additional materials at a later time.

The UF system will give you the option to upload letters of reference. We do not require letters of reference with initial application materials. Please ignore this option.

Inquiries may be sent to:
John M. Watkins, Jr.
Chair, Assistant Professor of Clarinet Search
Email: watkins@ufl.edu

The search committee does not utilize AI or other software to provide any level of applicant assessment.

The selected candidate will be required to provide an official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an educational institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).

If accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call +1 (352) 392- 2477 or the Florida Relay System at +1 (800) 955-8771 (TDD). Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. Searches are conducted in accordance with Florida's Sunshine Law.