Senior Director of Curriculum and Artistic Planning, YOLA
Position Status: Full-Time, Exempt
Reports to: Vice President, Learning
Compensation: $120,000 - 130,000
Department: Learning
About Learning at the LA Phil:
Leading the LA Phil’s strategic engagement with youth and education across Los Angeles, the Learning programs at the LA Phil champion the organization’s investment in the larger arts ecosystem while providing thought-leadership and advocacy for youth engagement program models that uplift and inspire.
About the YOLA Program:
Mission Statement:
YOLA provides transformational and equitable access to music education for young people from underserved communities, to support their personal development, their communities, and beyond.
YOLA Vision for Impact:
By 2035, YOLA is serving well over 4,000 students across LA County. Thousands of alumni believe the transformative experience of playing music with the YOLA community contributed to their personal development, a path to excellence, and a deep and lasting love of music, motivating them to meaningfully contribute as adults to the creative industry ecosystem.
Program Summary:
YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) is LA Phil’s signature education program, inspired by El Sistema and led by Gustavo Dudamel. YOLA provides over 1,800 students annually access to instruments, high-quality music instruction, and holistic support, helping young people thrive artistically, socially, and academically at no cost.
The work of YOLA is focused on two areas: Local programs, which directly serve communities across Los Angeles, and national programs which provide opportunities for young musicians, teaching artists, program administrators, and other stakeholders to learn from and create community with one another.
Position Summary:
Reporting to the Vice President, Learning, the Senior Director of Curriculum and Artistic Planning, YOLA is responsible for the oversight of the artistic and education planning for the YOLA program. Under the leadership of this position, the artistic growth for the program is defined at a strategic level while making vital connections to how this vision is executed at a curricular level. The scope includes programming for YOLA’s local and national programs. This role also provides direction and oversight for Teaching Artist and Conductor development, musical evaluations, and is lead position for development of YOLA Institute which creates opportunities for enhanced musical growth and development of young musicians in YOLA.
The Senior Director of Curriculum and Artistic Planning works with a number of key stakeholder groups within and externally to the department. The position also works closely with the Director of Programs and Instructional Partnerships to ensure that curricular goals and program design and woven together seamlessly and with high effectiveness toward the program’s strategic outcomes.
The Senior Director leads a team of two full-time managers, the Senior Artistic Manager and the Manager, Curriculum and Instruction, and provides extended oversight to the YOLA Artistic Advisor, YOLA conductors, and other part-time artistic staff. The Senior Director is an experienced music educator and artistic leader who brings deep expertise in instrumental and orchestral pedagogy, a commitment to inclusive and diverse representation in repertoire and learning settings, and an understanding of social impact through music within the context of a major performing arts organization.
This position will include frequent evening and weekend responsibilities.
Scope of Work:
Curriculum, Pedagogy & Evaluation:
With the curriculum team, set the pedagogical vision for local and national programs and oversee the ongoing development of the YOLA curriculum, benchmarks and lesson planning tools, aligned with national core arts standards
Ensure the pillars of the YOLA curriculum are applied consistently across all hubs, private lessons, YOLA National programs and the YOLA…