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Music Specialist (Concert)

Legislative Branch
Library of Congress
This job announcement has closed

Summary

This position is located in the  Music Division, Special Collections Directorate, Researcher And Collections Services.

The position description number for this position is 464640.

The salary range reflects the locality pay adjustments for the Washington, D.C., Metro area.

The incumbent of this position will work a flextime work schedule.

This is a non-supervisory, bargaining unit position.

Relocation expenses will not be authorized for the person(s) selected under this vacancy announcement.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
07/14/2025 to 07/28/2025
Salary
$69,923 to - $90,898 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 09
Location
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent - Position
Work schedule
Full-time - Flexitime - Frequent weekend and evening hours will be required
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
12
Job family (Series)
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Bargaining unit status
Yes - AFSCME Local 2910
Announcement number
VAR002951
Control number
840640400

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Anyone may apply - By law, employment at most U.S. Government agencies, including the Library of Congress, is limited to U.S. citizens. However, non-citizens may be hired, provided that other legal requirements are met and the Library determines there are no qualified U.S. citizens available for the position.

Duties

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Assists the chief, assistant chief, and senior music specialists by supporting the production of concerts and other events of moderate complexity that showcase the Music Division’s collections to the public and key constituencies. Proposes programming, project budgets, artist and production agreements for review by senior music specialists and division leadership, based on the Division’s strategic priorities. 

Supports Music Division and selected non-Music Division events on nights and weekends supports ticketing, front of house services, donor engagement, technical production, and liaising with internal partners.  Assists in planning, organizing, researching, and executing special displays, published writings or recordings, presentation programs, and other special projects of the Music Division and in support of other Library of Congress units’ use of the Coolidge Auditorium.
Assists senior specialists and division leadership for their roles representing the Music Division as a liaison to the Office of Communications, Multimedia Group, Library Events Office, other internal stakeholders, and cross-functional working groups and committees. Assists in preparing printed (including program notes and layout), blogs, marketing materials, and other official publications by providing research, writing for scholarly and general audiences, proofreading, and coordinating the delivery and dissemination of printed programs.

In the role as a developmental specialist, assists in the development of an acquaintance with the Library's collections pertaining to their areas of specialization in order to facilitate research. Assignments are made according to the various needs of the Division that arise in the course of fulfilling its mission: This includes responding to inquires in person, by correspondence, by email, and by phone; preparation of program notes and scripts for concerts and broadcast projects; publication of scholarly works on music drawing on the resources of the collections; content creation for the Music Division’s social media platforms; and feature stories for Library of Congress publications (e.g., Gazette, LCM).

Draws upon special expertise in such areas as interpreting musical notations and nomenclatures, transcribing in musical notation, or translating foreign languages, in order to carry out the work of the Division. Conducts research and applies subject expertise and knowledge of Copyright law to support the contracting, licensing, and publication of media projects, and including event webcasts and radio and television broadcast projects.

On a continuing basis, surveys the Library's collections relating to their areas of specialization. Assists senior specialists and division leadership with stewarding relationships with artists and artist managers to support long-term acquisitions prospects to benefit researchers. Suggests acquisition of both current and retrospective materials. Keeps abreast of opportunities for Library acquisition in their areas through review of scholarly publications, catalogs, and related materials. Assists in writing reports on Library acquisitions on their area of specializing. Assists with the Concert Office’s coordination with the Acquisitions and Processing Section to accession commission manuscripts and digital media generated by the concert series for the Music Division’s collections. Support the leads interviews and moderates panels that are filmed for addition to the Library’s collections.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Frequent weekend and evening hours will be required

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

Library of Congress employees are prohibited from using illegal drugs, including marijuana. The Library is part of the Federal Government and abides by federal law, so regardless of individual state or District of Columbia laws, marijuana use is illegal, considered criminal activity, and can affect your employment at the Library. In addition, past or current drug use and activities (e.g., selling or distributing) may deem you ineligible for employment.

Qualifications

Applicants must have had progressively responsible experience and training sufficient in scope and quality to furnish them with an acceptable level of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position without more than normal supervision.

Knowledge of the principles, concepts and methodology of music.**

Knowledge of concert and other public programs production.**

Ability to communicate in writing.**

Ability to perform research**

Ability to meet and deal with others.

Ability to read and understand a modern European language.

Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing.

Education

Education:  Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study - Music.

OR

Experience: Experience that demonstrated the ability to:

  • Produce, stage, conduct, or direct musical productions, concerts, recitals, festivals, clinics, workshops, or other musical events.
  • Instruct or perform in one or more of the musical arts such as (1) composing, arranging, or orchestrating music, (2) interpreting classical, modern, ethnic, or cultural dance forms, (3) choreography and notation, or (4) interpreting vocal or instrumental music.

This ability may have been gained in:

  • Planning, staging, conducting, or directing musical productions, concerts, recitals, competitions, festivals, symphonies, operas, choirs, choruses, or pageants for schools, civic or cultural organizations, or professional companies.
  • Planning, instructing in, or evaluating a music curriculum for secondary or higher academic levels.

You must submit a legible copy of your college/university transcripts to your online application. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at the time of application. Official transcripts will be required if selected. Failure to submit the required legible documentation at the time of application will result in disqualification of your application.

Foreign Education – Education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed equivalent to conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment. If your college/university is outside the U.S., your transcripts must be accompanied by a report from a credential evaluation service that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or the Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE)Failure to submit a foreign education evaluation report will result in disqualification of your application.

Additional information

Although it is the Library's policy to afford the maximum pay benefit to employees when setting rates of pay, a new appointee who has had no previous Federal service will generally be paid the minimum step of the grade.

The Library of Congress is an equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities who meet eligibility requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applicants must submit a complete application package that is received by the closing date of this announcement.

This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please ADA@loc.gov. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Applicants with disabilities may be considered under special hiring procedures and must submit an appropriate certificate of eligibility when applying for this position. The certificate of disability must verify that the applicant has a severe disability and may be issued by a State Vocational Rehabilitation Office, a Disability Services or Career Services Office of the applicant's college or university, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. The date of certification must be within three (3) years of the vacancy closing date and must be submitted with your application. For more information contact the Library's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Programs at 202-707-6024 or email spp@loc.gov. FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR CERTIFICATION WILL CAUSE YOUR APPLICATION TO NOT BE CONSIDERED UNDER THE SELECTIVE PLACEMENT PROGRAM.

The Library of Congress is the national library of the United States and is part of the Legislative Branch of the Federal government. As such, all positions are in the excepted service.

Appointment/retention is subject to a favorable evaluation of an appropriate personnel security/suitability investigation.

The Library reserves the right to fill a lesser or greater number of vacancies indicated during the life of this vacancy announcement.

Initial appointments, permanent or indefinite, to the Library of Congress require completion of a one-year probationary period.

A “Not to Exceed“ (NTE) status is used to identify an appointment with a specific ending date. However, the Library has the right to separate a NTE employee at any time due to either performance issues or budget constraints.

Are you a veteran? Please indicate the type of veterans' preference you are claiming in your application materials and/or applicant profile and provide the appropriate supporting documentation to validate your claim. Those applying for 5-point preference must submit Member Copy 4 of your DD 214. Those applying for 10-point preference must fill out an SF-15 (click here for the form) and provide the required documentation listed on the back of the form. If required supporting documentation is not attached, Veterans' Preference will not be considered in the application process.

For more information regarding eligibility requirements, please see the Library of Congress Merit Selection Plan, Section X.D, at: http://www.loc.gov/hr/employment/msp010909.pdf.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

The Library of Congress evaluates applicants through an applicant questionnaire and a structured interview. Applicants may also be screened for some jobs through licensing, certification, and/or education requirements, a narrative/application review, and/or a preliminary telephone interview. The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are marked with a double asterisk (**) in the vacancy announcement and the applicant questionnaire are considered the most critical for a position. To be considered for final selection, applicants must demonstrate fully acceptable experience in these designated KSAs in the narrative/application review, preliminary telephone and/or full structured interview. The various assessment tools listed above are designed to verify or explore applicants' experience, knowledge, and training directly related to the job in order to identify the best qualified applicants for selection.
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