The posting
Job Description
The Department of Music at St. Olaf College invites applications for a full-time, tenure track position in Cello at the rank of Assistant Professor, to begin August 2027. Responsibilities will include providing applied lessons in cello to music majors and non-majors; teaching string techniques; coaching chamber ensembles; teaching courses in the candidate’s area of expertise; academic advising; and department- and college-wide service. Candidates with conducting experience may be considered to direct the St. Olaf Philharmonia Orchestra.
Salary: $77,200 - $82,000
Qualifications The successful candidate will be a teacher-artist with an emerging national presence and demonstrated ability to teach and perform cello across diverse musical styles. The candidate should be an active participant in the string community and should demonstrate a proven ability to recruit, retain, and foster an inclusive, vibrant undergraduate studio culture. A DMA degree or equivalent experience in cello performance and previous teaching experience at the collegiate level are preferred for this position.
About the Department Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the Music Department at St. Olaf offers BA and BM degrees, and our graduates leave St. Olaf for the nation's finest graduate schools and further careers as performers (including with the Metropolitan Opera, the Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Indianapolis Symphonies). With 17 ensembles, three of which tour domestically and internationally, the Music Department serves approximately 900 students each year. Our faculty include nationally-recognized, award-winning teachers, performers, and composers. The Music Department is highly collaborative and is strongly committed to maintaining our traditions of inclusive excellence. For more information about the department, visit wp.stolaf.edu/music.
We strive to be a campus of welcome where students, faculty, and staff thrive by bringing their full humanity—gender identity, sexuality, race, ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic class, disability, religion, spirituality, and age—to St. Olaf each day. Our goal is to generate conversations and processes that over time create greater clarity, transparency, trust, cooperation, consensus, respect, and measurable outcomes. Practices that support this goal include listening, cultivating a growth mindset, respecting those with different views, being informed by data, and understanding that the work is ongoing, collaborative, organic, and ever evolving. We encourage applicants to familiarize themselves with our Community and Belonging website to learn more about our commitment and to identify how you might contribute to these efforts.
How to Apply Throughout your materials, include how you would contribute to the development of a diverse and inclusive learning community at our college through your teaching, research, and/or service. A complete application includes the following:
References: Provide contact information for three professional references who can speak to your abilities in teaching and scholarship. Letters will be solicited from references by the search committee for candidates who advance to the interview stage.
Supporting Documents and URLS:
- Cover letter outlining your qualifications and why you are interested in this particular position
- Curriculum vitae
- Graduate transcripts (unofficial)
- Teaching Statement: A statement detailing your approach to teaching music performance in a liberal arts context that involves both music majors and talented non-majors, including your goals as a teacher and plans for continued pedagogical development and successful recruiting for the cello studio. In this document please also include links to video recordings of up to three collegiate-level lessons with students at different proficiency levels. Each video should be no more than 30 minutes long.
- Professional Statement: A statement discussing your approach to professional work (performing, conducting, etc.) and how you see that work continuing to develop in a liberal arts college environment. This statement should include links to videos of you performing as a soloist, and if possible, as a chamber musician, demonstrating artistic and technical mastery in a variety of literature. Videos need not exceed 30 minutes in total length.
Review of applications will begin on October 19, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled. Applications received by that date will receive fullest consideration. Finalist interviews are expected in January, 2027. Questions about the position, department, or College may be directed to Marty Hodel, Search Committee Chair, at [email protected].
About Us
Join Our Community - Work at St. Olaf!
Founded in 1874, St. Olaf College is a residential, coeducational liberal arts college with approximately 3,000 students and 800 faculty and staff. The college is located on a picturesque 300-acre campus in Northfield, Minnesota, a vibrant, historic river town of 20,000 located 45 minutes south of culturally rich and diverse Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The college offers an academically rigorous, nationally ranked liberal arts education that fosters the development of the whole person in mind, body, and spirit and emphasizes learning in an inclusive and globally engaged community. We encourage applications from candidates committed to multicultural understanding and the enrichment of our diverse community.
The college offers a comprehensive benefits package, including a 9% retirement match, contributions to eligible employees' health savings accounts, a significant tuition discount (up to a 90% reduction) at ACM, GLCA, and ELCA colleges and universities for employees' children, and generous paid time off. For a full review of the college's benefits, please see the summary of our benefits here: https://wp.stolaf.edu/hr/benefits/
To provide a safe and secure educational environment, St. Olaf College verifies the accuracy of all credentials presented by applicants and conducts a criminal background check on every new hire.
A summary of the Flexible Work Policy for staff: https://wp.stolaf.edu/hr/flexible-work-policy/
A link to our Community and Belonging page: https://wp.stolaf.edu/equity-inclusion/
A virtual campus tour: https://www.stolaf.edu/multimedia/play/?p=483
An overview of Northfield: https://wp.stolaf.edu/admissions/visit/northfield/
An overview of the Twin Cities: https://wp.stolaf.edu/admissions/visit/twincities/
For Staff Application Assistance:
507-786-3068
For Faculty Application Assistance: [email protected] 507-786-3356
Nondiscrimination Policy
St. Olaf College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, creed, national origin, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, marital status, veteran status, or status with regard to public assistance. St. Olaf College prohibits discrimination and harassment based upon these and any other legally protected status in any education program or activity that it operates, including in admissions and employment.
Inquiries about this nondiscrimination policy may be referred to St. Olaf College's Director of Equal Opportunity, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, or both. St. Olaf's Director of Equal Opportunity (who serves as the College's Title IX, Title VI, and Section 504 Coordinator) is Pamela McDowell, Tomson Hall, [email protected], (507) 786-3465.
