What a surprise! Searching for jobs here, searching for jobs there—academic positions, not church roles. This is what I’ve been doing for the past two years. It all began back in October 2013. Oh, the job searching I've done since then! Most people I know would have said, "Hey, I bet you're going to have no problem landing a professorship, instructorship, lectureship, etc." I understand what most of them think, but let's consider the "minority report" perspective. Some suggest I explore teaching online courses. Others believe I should prioritize getting published. Some advocate for teaching private music lessons, while others recommend applying for church positions, especially with larger congregations. To be sure, I've pursued the ecclesiastical option to some extent. As of August 26, 2015, I've been appointed as the Director of Music Ministries at the mid-sized First United Methodist Church of Water Valley, MS. However, it remains uncertain whether I will also secure a teaching position at the tertiary level. Will I be fortunate enough to join academia?
New Job
ZANE GILLESPIE
After six years as Minister of Music at Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church (UMC) in Holly Springs, MS, I was recently called to continue to work to address public engagement in music participation as Director of Music Ministries at First UMC in Water Valley, MS. I am a Composer, Theorist, and member of both The College Music Society as well as The Poe Studies Association (PSA). I am also an active pianist and vocalist, specializing primarily in church music. My paper entitled ““Mesmeric Revelation”: Art as Hypnosis” has been published by the international, peer-reviewed journal Humanities. In addition, another paper of mine entitled “A Model of Triadic Post-Tonality for a Neoconservative Postmodern String Quartet by Sky Macklay” has been submitted to the peer-reviewed Music Theory journal Perspectives of New Music. At the end of February 2015, I served as Chair for the session entitled “Aesthetics and Philosophy” at The Fourth International PSA Conference in New York City. On June 21, 2014, my Quartet for Alto Saxophone and Strings, a commission from concert saxophonist Walter Hoehn, was performed as part of Concert V of the Eighth Annual Belvedere Chamber Music Festival held at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Memphis, TN. Characteristically neo-romantic (in the original sense of the word), my music earned me the Nancy Van de Vate Award for Composition three times from the University of Mississippi Department of Music. A native of Pontotoc, MS, I hold degrees from the University of Mississippi (BM; MM), and the University of Memphis (DMA) where I was the 2011 recipient of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music's Smit Composition Award. I live in Memphis, TN.