Casa da Música in Porto, Portugal, represents one of the most important concert halls in Europe. Since its opening in 2005, this cultural beacon has been internationally recognized as a pioneer for musical excellence, innovative programming and an outstanding model for an extensive education offering. Porto’s Casa da Música is home to a symphony orchestra, a contemporary music ensemble, a baroque ensemble for historically informed performance practice, a chamber choir and a children's choir. The iconic Casa da Música was planned and built by architect Rem Koolhaas. It comprises a large concert hall, a small hall for chamber music and special event formats as well as a variety of rooms for musical practice.

Fundação Casa da Música being responsible for this institution is financed by the Portuguese government and the City of Porto as well as other public and private donors and led by a management team of seasoned non- executive and executive members.

From January 2025, we are looking for an internationally experienced

Artistic & Education Director Casa da Música, Porto

Your tasks

You are responsible for the annual programming of the entire institution in all its musical and artistic orientations and formats

You are also responsible for Casa da Música’s extensive education program involving schools and a rich variety of other institutions and established partnerships

You lead a team of around 130 employees, including presently five in-house ensembles as well as the planning and technical departments

In addition, the position is a central reference point for a host of other departments within Casa da Música

You report regularly to the Board of Directors on all plans and projects per cycle as well its ongoing execution

You successfully involve public and private donors in the planning and execution of forthcoming artistic and music educational visions for Casa da Música

Your competences

You bring extensive experience and track record as a senior manager in cultural, ideally musical, institutions to this position

You are well acquainted in developing own visionary ideas and artistic impulses as much as convincing Casa da Música’s target groups and audiences of them and hence create and endorse your artistic and educational signature style

You represent the institution, its ensembles and the program planning of the house as Casa da Música’s "face" to audiences and the wider public of Porto and beyond

You have a strong command of English. Familiarity with or considerate motivation to become acquainted with Portuguese language and Portuguese culture is an important virtue for this position. You are at ease in motivating your artistic and educational ideas to employees, committees, funding bodies as much as to public and private supporters of Casa da Música

You demonstrably have a substantial network of artists of inspiring width and breadth, of music and artistic agencies and opinion leaders in the field of music and enjoy an excellent reputation there

Experienced and situative leadership is an important and enabling virtue of your professionalism

Considering the socio-cultural and strategic presence of the Casa an authentic and charismatic personality is sought who is innovative and combines creativity with the ability to generate enthusiasm. It will be important to honor the tried and tested with intuition and to develop new impulses for the future.

Our offer

We offer an interesting, albeit positively challenging and inspiring position with immense responsibility and creative freedom in a lively and thriving metropolitan region with a high quality of life and rich cultural heritage. You will be expected to relocate your center of life to Porto and establish yourself visibly in the urban community. The position is initially limited to four years, including option for extension.

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If you are interested to apply, please send your informative application documents (CV, letter of motivation) by June 25th 2024 by e-mail to cdm@metrum-executivesearch.com. In case of further queries about the position or the application process, don’t hesitate to contact the two lead partners Peter Gartiser and Johannes von Hülsen in advance. We respond back if you send us an e-mail. At all times METRUM Executive Search ensures utmost discretion to your application or any query.

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