Elon University - Department of Performing Arts

Information for Sound Design Candidates

About the Department:
The Department of Performing Arts houses major programs in Acting, Dance, Music Theatre, Theatre Studies, and Theatrical Design & Production. We serve approximately 250 majors, placing us among the largest departments in the College of Arts & Sciences. As is true with all programs at Elon, our students must complete the liberal arts core curriculum alongside their demanding conservatory-style program. We feel that this makes them more effective artists, better equipped to create art for contemporary society. Within our department we strive to train effective creative artists who also understand the practical workings of the business side of show business. Most of our majors have worked professionally before they graduate.

We are a vibrant, active, ambitious department dedicated to excellence in the classroom and on stage. We offer a rigorous curriculum and produce very high-end, fully-realized productions that are admired and supported by the campus and surrounding community. This combination of theoretical and practical education has helped us achieve one of our primary missions - helping establish the professional careers of the young artists in our charge. Our performance and design/production alumni can be found working on Broadway, and in Regional Theatres, Opera, and Dance companies around the country.

Central to this training is the faculty. We have assembled a committed, hard working group of artist/scholars who maintain professional careers that help inform their work with students. We also meet the challenge of remaining connected to the broader campus through service on a variety of university committees and task forces. Our unique level of success and our dedication have earned the appreciation and support of the university administrators, who consider us one of the premier departments on campus. This recognition results in a wide variety of support from all corners of the campus.

About this Position:
This is a new, full time, tenure track faculty position in the Department of Performing Arts.

This new position will provide Sound Design for our busy production season of musicals, plays, and dance concerts. Design faculty in our department receive teaching course credit for their contributions to our productions.

Successful candidates will be able to teach sound design and other courses within the Performing Arts curricula. Additional duties will include service on department and university committees, advising department majors, and mentoring students in production and professional endeavors. The potential exists to foster a relationship with the recently created Music Technology program.

All faculty are expected to maintain a record of creative/scholarly activity on and off campus. The university provides financial support for conferences and other professional development activities. Additionally, the Dean of Arts & Sciences has committed start up funding to help this new faculty member purchase additional equipment, software, etc., to support their design and teaching efforts in the department.

About the Facilities:
The Center for the Arts at Elon University is the home of the Performing Arts and Music departments. Built in 1987 the Center for the Arts offers a variety of performance and classroom spaces.

•    McCrary Theater is a 572-seat proscenium theater. It offers professional quality lighting and sound systems, a full complement of theatrical soft goods, as well as a newly renovated fly system. Each academic year the performing arts department produces 2 musicals, one drama and one dance concert in the theater. McCrary Theater also houses a variety of lectures, concerts and touring events.

•    The Black Box is a 46’x46’ multiple configuration theater that serves as a performance space and classroom for the performing arts department. The Black Box Theater features lighting and sound systems, a full complement of soft goods, collapsible seats and seating platforms. Performances in the Black Box Theater include: Department dramas, musicals, dance concerts, and a variety of student-produced works. It is also the home to many master classes offered throughout each academic year.

•    Yeager Recital Hall is a 125-seat venue with digital recording capabilities. This room serves as a performance space, classroom, meeting space and audition venue. Yeager is shared by the Performing Arts and Music departments.

•    The Design and Production Studio is a multi-purpose classroom. This studio features: a digital control system with smart board and data projector, A/V equipment, PC workstations, drafting tables, and crafts equipment. The room is used as a classroom, meeting space, props fabrication area and studio for design and production students.

•    The Center for the Arts also houses dance studios, soundproof practice rooms, a costume studio, art gallery, and faculty offices.

About the Alumni:
Alumni from Elon University’s Design and Production program have maintained a high level of professional activity during their years at Elon as well as after graduation. In addition to professional growth, many of our alumni have attended some of the elite graduate schools in the United States. The following is a list of recent accomplishments by Theatrical Design and Production alumni.

Graduate Schools
Yale School of Drama
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts
The Julliard School

Professional Theaters and Companies
Santa Fe Opera
American Ballet Theatre
Goodspeed Musicals
Williamstown Theatre Festival
CentreStage
Heritage Repertory Theatre
Seaside Music Theatre
The Lost Colony
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
Los Angeles Opera
Triad Stage
Arkansas Repertory Theatre
Busch Gardens
B Street Theatre
Warehouse Theatre
The Hanger Theatre
Georgia Shakespeare Festival

About the Region:
Elon University is located on the outskirts of Burlington – a growing community of approximately 50,000 residents in the central Piedmont plain. The local newspaper:
http://www.thetimesnews.com/

Burlington, N.C., is the heart of Alamance County. Connect to the county’s Chamber of Commerce here: http://www.alamancechamber.com/

Burlington is close to, and nearly halfway between, two major metropolitan regions. To the east is The Triangle – named for the communities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. To the west is The Triad – created by the communities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and Chapel Hill. Each of these regions boasts a wide variety of arts organizations and museums; a vibrant economy that is attracting new and diverse residents; an international airport; and numerous other colleges and universities.

In The Triangle, the Raleigh News and Observer is online at: http://www.newsobserver.com/ and the Durham Herald-Sun is at: http://www.heraldsun.com/

In The Triad, the Greensboro News and Record is available at: http://www.news-record.com/ and the Winston-Salem Journal is at: http://www.journalnow.com/

Jay’s North Carolina Theatre Guide is a good source of information: http://www.jnctg.com/

On Stage in North Carolina is a less comprehensive, but useful, site: http://www.onstageinnc.com/

Theatres of particular note in The Triangle include:
PlayMakers Repertory Company – http://www.playmakersrep.org/
The North Carolina Theatre – http://www.nctheatre.com/
The Burning Coal Theatre Company – http://www.burningcoal.org/
Manbites Dog Theatre – http://www.manbitesdogtheater.org/1/

And in The Triad:
The Triad Stage – http://www.triadstage.org/
The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival – http://www.ncshakes.org/
The Open Space Café Theatre -- http://www.osctheatre.com/
The Broach Theatre -- http://www.broachtheatre.org/

For more information about:

The Performing Arts Department - please visit: www.elon.edu/perarts
Elon University - please visit: www.elon.edu