Department Summary:

Drake University’s Department of Music (School of Fine Arts) is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music. The Music Department’s mission is to provide a center for the study and understanding of music that develops students’ intellectual, practical, and expressive abilities by emphasizing professional preparation, collaborative learning, critical thinking, and musical communication. Drake University seeks to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff. Drake offers the best of both worlds: a department that is large enough to support a vast range of musical activities, but small enough that students receive highly personal attention. We pride ourselves on providing big-school opportunities in a small-school environment, and our graduates are well-trained and well-rounded musicians who are highly competitive in a wide range of vocational fields.

For more about the Department, visit: https://www.drake.edu/music/.

Job Summary:

Primary responsibilities include teaching the required courses in the undergraduate theory sequence, particularly advanced tonal and post-tonal theory and composition. Additional responsibilities include overseeing the music theory curriculum, advising senior theses for the B.A. (Music) degree in the areas of theory and/or composition, and teaching specialized seminars or courses currently offered by the department (e.g. orchestration, structure and design, composition lessons) and/or within the candidate’s area of expertise. Secondary areas of specialization may include music technology, pedagogy of theory, and/or music industry and administration.

Minimum Qualifications:

Those with either a DMA, Ph.D. or ABD are welcome to apply.

Salary and Benefits: 

Salary is competitive with peer schools and will be commensurate with qualifications and experience of the selected candidate.

At Drake, we are proud to offer our employees, their spouses, and eligible dependents a comprehensive benefits package, which includes a wide range of core benefits, perks, and discounts. If you are exploring a job with Drake University, we invite you to spend a little time with our digital benefits guide: Drake Benefit Plan Guide 2025

One of our very popular policies provides a tuition waiver for Drake employees, their spouses, and eligible dependents. Drake also participates in two tuition exchange programs available to dependent children. You can learn about both the tuition waiver policy and tuition exchange programs here: Tuition Benefits.