Bass Lay Clerk – Westminster Cathedral

Key information

Closing date: 12pm, Tuesday 4 February 2025

£29,361.83 per year

Part-time, 13.5 hours per week

Permanent Contract

Based in London, SW1P

First Round Interviews: In person, w/c 10 February 2025

Second Round Interviews: In person, w/c 24 February 2025

 

Please find the job description for this role below:

Bass Lay Clerk Job Description 2025

 

Westminster Cathedral are looking for a Bass Lay Clerk (Second Bass preferred) to join 7 other Lay Clerks singing alongside the boy choristers from the Cathedral Choir School. This is the Westminster Cathedral Choir, acclaimed as one of the world’s great choirs.

 

What you’ll be doing

Westminster Cathedral Choir is acclaimed as one of the world’s great choirs.  The Cathedral’s founder, Cardinal Vaughan, intended its liturgies to be enriched with the finest music available and for the Choir to be the ‘jewel in the crown’ of English Catholicism.  The Choir draws it repertoire from a rich seam of music written especially for Catholic liturgy, and plainchant is the well-spring from which the Choir’s musical activities flow.

The Bass Lay Clerk, as part of the Choir, will sing Vespers and Mass daily during Choir terms. You will be one of eight professional Lay Clerks (two counter-tenors, three tenors and three bases) who are employed to join the boy choristers, all of which are boarders in the Cathedral Choir School.

The Choir will be joined by additional singers for Sundays and for special services, concerts and recordings. Furthermore, there is a substantial approved deputy list from which Lay Clerks may engage deputies within permitted limits.

This means there’s lots to get involved in – and to be excited about.

 

What we’re looking for

As an exceptional singer, you will wish to contribute to the sound of the Choir, and be passionate about maintaining and improving the high standards of singing on which we pride ourselves.

It is not required for the successful candidate to be a practicing Roman Catholic. The team consists of a good mix of those with a Catholic faith and those of other faiths or none. What we require above all else is that you respect the values we share to help others and support decent and dignified work for all without prejudice.

 

Additional details

The salary for this role is currently £29,361.83, which is reviewed annually. Special services, broadcasts, concerts, tours and recordings are subject to additional fees. The salary and terms permit for certain services to be livestreamed.

There are two days off per week, one of which is generally fixed and the other flexible.  From time to time the choir may be required to sing on a day normally deemed a day off. A day off in lieu may be accrued if a Lay Clerk is prevented from being able to take two days off by such a schedule change. Such changes may only be requested with a notice period of six weeks.

Overtime accrues in blocks of 15 minutes wherever a service, event or session needs to be extended.

Holiday is taken outside of term-times. Term-times are as follows:

  • The first Sunday of September until Christmas Day, with a six-day break in October
  • The vigil of Epiphany* until Easter Day
  • The Thursday following Low Sunday until the Sunday after the final Sunday of the chorister term (usually the 2nd or 3rd Sunday in July)

*when Epiphany or its transferal falls on a Sunday, then term begins on the Sunday.

It is accepted that you will undertake additional paid work or employment for other employers or organisations.

In the case of a national event taking place in Westminster Cathedral at short notice, you may be asked to return from overseas venues and, if necessary, curtail other work engagements. In the event of travel expenses being incurred, these will be reimbursed.

 

What we offer you

In return for your hard work and commitment to us, you will receive a competitive reward package which will include, but is not limited to:

  • Life Assurance
  • Access to Healthcare Cash Plan
  • Discounts scheme through Reward Gateway – shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets gift cards and much more
  • Specsavers Eye Care Vouchers
  • Season Ticket Loan
  • Cycle to Work scheme
  • Access to low cost loans with Churches Mutual
  • Employee assistance programme– free, independent 24/7 help and advice for work-related issues as well as problems affecting home life

 

Who are we?

We are the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, a faith-based charity with offices close to Victoria Train and Underground Station and just a short walk from St James Park and Westminster Underground stations.

We are home to the Archbishop of Westminster (Cardinal Vincent Nichols) & our beautiful Westminster Cathedral. We are one of the leading Catholic dioceses in the country, delivering our charitable mission through our network of 208 schools in which over 90,000 pupils attend daily, 212 parishes and several hundred social justice initiatives. We seek to positively impact the lives of all members of society.

Our core values are Competence, Reliability, Honesty, Perseverance & Love.

Our values are at the centre of everything we do and as such we are looking for a Bass Lay Clerk who is able to clearly demonstrate and evidence them

 

Application details

Our people are our most important asset and we value and respect diversity in all its forms (seen and unseen). We particularly welcome applications from those from Black and Asian backgrounds, as well as candidates with disabilities and from the communities in which we work. We would like to increase representation of these groups among our staff as we know greater diversity will lead to an even greater impact for our work.

To be considered for the role, please complete an online application. CVs will NOT be considered, therefore, please do not send them. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. Please note that you will need to be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this position. You must provide proof of Right to Work in the UK.  We reserve the right to remove the vacancy before closing date.

Anyone wishing to discuss the post with the Master of Music, Simon Johnson, should contact the Music Administrator, William Waine: musicadmin@rcdow.org.uk