Music Director (Livehouse Entertainment Venue)

Location: Singapore
Employment Type: Full-time
Industry: Live Entertainment / Music / Hospitality

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and highly versatile Music Director to oversee the artistic, technical, and operational music functions of a premium livehouse venue. The successful candidate will be responsible for curating nightly live performances, directing house bands, managing rehearsal standards, supervising technical audio integration, and ensuring commercially viable programming aligned with venue branding and audience engagement objectives.

This role requires advanced musical competency, leadership experience in high-pressure live entertainment environments, and the ability to coordinate multi-genre productions across rotating performance schedules.

Key Responsibilities

• Direct and supervise all live music programming and artistic performance standards
• Lead and manage house bands, guest musicians, session players, and vocalists
• Arrange, transpose, and adapt music across multiple genres including jazz, Mandopop, Cantopop, Top 40, funk, rock, R&B, fusion, and contemporary commercial music
• Conduct rehearsals and evaluate musicianship, timing precision, improvisational capability, and stage professionalism
• Develop weekly and quarterly programming strategies aligned with revenue and customer retention targets
• Coordinate closely with FOH audio engineers and lighting operators regarding live production requirements
• Produce and manage live backing arrangements, click tracks, stems, MIDI integration, and hybrid live-performance systems where required
• Maintain compliance with venue licensing, performance rights, and entertainment regulations
• Handle last-minute artist substitutions, emergency set restructuring, and live troubleshooting during performances
• Recruit, audition, and evaluate freelance and resident performers
• Oversee musical quality control for performances operating up to 6 nights per week

Minimum Requirements

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Music Performance, Music Production, Jazz Studies, Composition, Contemporary Music, or related discipline
• Minimum 10 years of professional live-performance industry experience
• Minimum 5 years in a Music Director or Band Leader capacity within a live entertainment venue, concert environment, cruise line, theatre production, or integrated resort
• Demonstrated proficiency in at least three musical instruments, with advanced-level competency in one
• Strong working knowledge of:Ableton LiveLogic ProPro ToolsDante audio networkingMIDI programmingIn-ear monitor systems
• Ability to read and write:Staff notationNashville Number SystemChord chartsLead sheets
• Proven experience directing bands with rotating musicians from multicultural backgrounds
• Experience handling live performances exceeding 3 hours per set cycle
• Strong familiarity with Asian commercial music markets and audience trends
• Ability to work nights, weekends, public holidays, and split shifts
• Excellent crisis management and live troubleshooting ability under time-sensitive operational conditions

Preferred Qualifications

Preference may be given to candidates with:

• International touring experience
• Prior experience in integrated resorts, cruise entertainment, or high-volume nightlife venues
• Multi-language communication capability (English plus Mandarin and/or Cantonese)
• Experience managing venues with live broadcast or streaming components
• Existing professional network of session musicians and entertainment industry contacts in Southeast Asia

Technical Competencies

Candidates may be assessed on:

• Live arrangement adaptation
• Real-time transposition
• Band rehearsal leadership
• Harmony and ear-training proficiency
• Tempo control with click integration
• Live set continuity management
• Improvisation direction
• Advanced rhythm section communication

Performance Expectations

The selected candidate will be expected to:

• Maintain consistently high audience engagement scores
• Ensure minimal downtime between live sets
• Deliver commercially sustainable entertainment programming
• Uphold strict rehearsal discipline and punctuality standards
• Adapt rapidly to evolving entertainment trends and operational demands

Application Requirements

Interested applicants should submit:

• Updated CV
• Performance portfolio or showreel
• Repertoire list
• Audio/video recordings of live direction experience
• References from previous entertainment venues or production companies

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for practical audition and technical assessment stages.