JOB ADVERT

MUSIC ASSISTANT TO COMPOSER PIPPA CLEARY

Contract: Freelance, Part-Time

Dates: 28th April until Christmas 2025, with the potential to extend

Hours: Average 10 hours per week (with potential for additional hours), Minimum guarantee of 350 hours between now and Christmas.

Pay: £30/hr

Location: 50% remote, 50% in person at Pippa’s flat in Islington, Angel (5 minute walk from Angel Tube). NB: Pippa has two cats - Audrey and Seymour.

About the Role:

We’re looking for a musically fluent, super-organised assistant to support West End composer & lyricist Pippa Cleary - My Son’s a Queer, The Great British Bake Off Musical and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. You will be working with Pippa across four separate musicals and projects currently in development and production. This is an exciting opportunity to play a vital part in the creative and practical process of bringing new musical theatre work to life.

You’ll be across multiple scores and deadlines, working closely with Pippa and her wider creative teams to ensure everything runs smoothly, from score prep, rehearsing to recording sessions. The role will suit someone with a passion for musical theatre, a sharp eye for detail, and the flexibility to jump between projects as needed.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Transcribe by ear, edit, format and prepare primarily PV scores and parts using Sibelius. 

  • Tidy and chord piano parts Pippa may have inputted via Flexitime.

  • Keeping script & scores up to date and current. This could involve using Final Draft, Microsoft Word, Pages or Google Docs as well as music notation software. 

  • Create new scores from scans of old handwritten music, possibly using Photoscore or other relevant software

  • Maintain up-to-date score versions and manage file organisation using Dropbox/Google Drive across multiple shows

  • Beat Mapping projects Pippa will have recorded into Logic without click

  • Assist with scheduling and tracking musical deadlines across all projects

  • Do rough mixing, adding of basic drum parts in Logic for pitches and rough demos 

  • Support recording sessions (e.g., preparing sheet music, editing tracks, vocal guides)

  • Occasionally teach and / or record vocal lines and harmonies to singers for rehearsals or recordings

  • Attend in-person rehearsals or workshops as needed (London-based)

  • Liaise with musical directors, orchestrators, and other collaborators

  • Help and teach Pippa personally with her own Sibelius and Logic skills. Pippa is visually impaired so has a slightly different way of working. 

  • Other ad hoc music jobs as required.

Requirements

  • Excellent notation/transcription/formatting skills and fluency in Sibelius. Dorico and Finale also useful but not necessary

  • Excellent working knowledge of Logic Pro including click creation, beat mapping

  • Strong organisational and project management abilities

  • A very strong musical ear (most transcriptions will be from iPhone voice memos)

  • Familiarity with vocal ranges, vocal arrangements, musical theatre style, and ensemble writing

  • Comfortable with remote working, but based in London for in-person sessions

  • A personable and confident Musical Director who would be confident rehearsing singers and sometimes children.

  • Bonus: basic orchestration/arranging & mixing ability 

The successful candidate will need to work from their own Mac and have the most current versions of Logic Pro and Sibelius.

To Apply:

Please send a short cover note, CV, and (if available) any relevant music samples or examples of your notation / transcribing work to pippacleary@me.com. Deadline for applications Wednesday 23rd April.