Director of Music Composition (Volunteer)

Director of Music Composition (Volunteer)

PromiseStudios | Music Composition, Scoring & Sonic Storytelling

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseStudios

Department: Music, Audio & Sound

Location: Fully Remote — United States

Type: Volunteer Creative Leadership Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week

Minimum Commitment: 6 months

Reports To: Chief Creative Officer / PromiseStudios Leadership

Directly Oversees: Music Composers, Scoring Artists, Arrangers, and designated music-production volunteers

Works Closely With: Animation, Film, Podcast, Audio Engineering, Sound Design, Video Editing, Voice Talent, Creative Directors, Writers, Producers, and other PromiseStudios teams

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit supporting children and youth experiencing housing instability through mentorship, education, enrichment, creative expression, career development, advocacy, and community-centered opportunity.

Through PromiseStudios, MAP develops original creative work that uses storytelling, media, music, animation, film, audio, and other forms of expression to educate, connect, inspire, and amplify meaningful stories.

About PromiseStudios

PromiseStudios is MAP's multidisciplinary creative production division.

The studio brings together writers, filmmakers, animators, illustrators, photographers, composers, musicians, sound designers, editors, voice performers, producers, and other creative professionals to develop original projects across multiple forms of media.

Music is an essential part of that creative ecosystem.

It can establish an emotional world before a character speaks, transform the meaning of a scene, create continuity across a story, and give an entire project a musical identity audiences remember long after it ends.

Role Overview

MAP is seeking an experienced Director of Music Composition to lead music composition and scoring across PromiseStudios.

The Director will establish the creative and technical standards for original music while building and developing a team of composers capable of supporting animation, film, podcasts, educational media, digital content, campaigns, and other original productions.

This is both a creative leadership and team-building role.

The Director should be an accomplished composer, but the position is not designed for one person to compose everything MAP produces.

The responsibility is larger:

Build the people, standards, workflows, musical language, and collaborative environment necessary for PromiseStudios to produce exceptional original music consistently.

Music Composition Leadership

Lead the creative direction and development of original music across PromiseStudios projects.

Responsibilities include:

• Establish composition and scoring standards.
• Guide the musical direction of assigned productions.
• Review scripts, storyboards, animatics, rough cuts, and creative briefs.
• Help determine where music should—and should not—be used.
• Develop musical concepts appropriate to individual projects.
• Guide composers through development and revision.
• Review compositions for storytelling effectiveness and technical quality.
• Ensure music remains aligned with the creative director's or project's overall vision.
• Encourage experimentation while maintaining professional standards.

The goal is not to make every MAP project sound the same.

The goal is to make every project sound intentional.

Original Scoring

Lead and support scoring for projects across areas such as:

• Animation
• Short films
• Documentaries
• Podcasts
• Children's storytelling
• Educational media
• Promotional films
• Digital storytelling
• Youth-created media
• Branded creative content
• Public-interest campaigns
• Special productions

Help composers translate narrative intention into musical decisions involving melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, texture, dynamics, tempo, motif, silence, and emotional progression.

Animation Music

Work closely with PromiseStudios' Animation Team to develop music that responds precisely to animated storytelling.

Responsibilities may include:

• Score from storyboards and animatics.
• Develop character themes and motifs.
• Establish musical identities for environments or story worlds.
• Compose transitions and emotional cues.
• Respond to timing, movement, dialogue, and visual rhythm.
• Coordinate music revisions as animation changes.
• Collaborate with editors and sound designers during post-production.
• Help determine when music, sound design, dialogue, or silence should carry a scene.

Animation gives composers an unusual opportunity.

The world on screen may never have existed before.

The music can help tell the audience how that world feels.

Musical Storytelling

Help teams think about music as storytelling rather than decoration.

For each project, consider:

What is the audience supposed to feel?

Whose perspective are we experiencing?

What changes emotionally during the scene?

Does the music reveal something the dialogue does not?

Should the audience notice the score—or simply feel its effect?

What should remain silent?

What musical ideas should return later?

What should this project sound like that another project should not?

The Director should help composers understand the story before composing the score.

Creative Development

Participate early in the development of projects where music will play an important role.

Collaborate with directors, writers, producers, animators, editors, and sound professionals to determine:

• Musical objectives
• Creative references
• Emotional direction
• Musical themes
• Character motifs
• Instrumentation
• Production requirements
• Recording needs
• Deliverables
• Timelines

Music should not automatically become the final department asked to rescue a scene after every other creative decision has already been made.

Composition Team Leadership

Build and lead MAP's music-composition team.

• Recruit composers and scoring artists.
• Review portfolios and composition reels.
• Match composers with appropriate projects.
• Establish assignments and expectations.
• Conduct creative reviews.
• Provide constructive feedback.
• Mentor developing composers.
• Encourage collaboration among musicians.
• Monitor workload and deadlines.
• Develop emerging creative leaders.
• Create opportunities for composers to expand their portfolios and abilities.

The Director's success should not be measured by how much music the Director personally composes.

It should be measured partly by how strong the entire composition team becomes.

Music Production Workflow

Establish a disciplined workflow for original music:

Creative Brief → Story Review → Musical Concept → Composition → Creative Review → Revision → Arrangement / Production → Mix → Integration → Quality Control → Final Delivery → Archive

Ensure composers understand:

• Who provides creative direction.
• What materials are required before composition begins.
• What the deadline is.
• What deliverables are expected.
• Who reviews the work.
• How feedback is consolidated.
• When music is considered approved.
• Where final project assets are stored.

Creative freedom works best when production expectations are clear.

Collaboration With Sound Design & Audio

Work closely with sound designers and audio engineers to create a cohesive sonic environment.

Music should not compete unnecessarily with:

• Dialogue
• Voice-over
• Foley
• Environmental ambience
• Sound effects
• Character sounds
• Narrative silence

Coordinate with audio post-production teams around mixing, stems, transitions, dynamics, frequency balance, and final integration.

The audience experiences one soundtrack.

Our creative departments should therefore build it together.

Recording, Arrangement & Production

Depending on the project, support decisions involving:

• Digital instrumentation
• Live musicians
• Orchestration
• Arrangement
• MIDI production
• Virtual instruments
• Recording
• Vocal music
• Ensemble requirements
• Session preparation
• Music editing
• Mixing and mastering coordination

The Director does not need to personally perform every technical function but should understand the production process well enough to lead it effectively.

Music Quality & Creative Standards

Help establish PromiseStudios standards around:

• Composition quality
• Musical originality
• Arrangement
• Production quality
• Recording
• File organization
• Music stems
• Naming conventions
• Version control
• Technical delivery
• Archiving

Review final music carefully before delivery.

A composition is not finished simply because the notes have been written.

It is finished when the music serves the story, meets technical requirements, and is ready to become part of the final production.

Music Rights & Intellectual Property

Work with PromiseTrust and appropriate MAP leaders to ensure music is created and used responsibly.

Support appropriate processes involving:

• Original compositions
• Composer agreements
• Music ownership
• Licensing
• Third-party music
• Samples
• Music libraries
• Performer permissions
• Attribution
• Credits
• Distribution rights
• Archiving

Composers should understand the rights associated with the work they create before—not after—a project is released.

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

Collaborate across PromiseStudios with:

• Animation
• Film
• Audio
• Sound Design
• Podcast Production
• Video Editing
• Voice Performance
• Creative Development
• Production
• Post-Production

The Director should be capable of communicating musical ideas to people who may not have formal musical training.

A director should not need to understand music theory to explain how a scene should feel.

The composer's responsibility is to translate creative intention into musical language.

Youth-Centered & Mission-Aligned Storytelling

Ensure music created for MAP reflects the dignity of the people and communities represented in our work.

Avoid musical choices that rely on stereotypes, sensationalize hardship, or manipulate difficult experiences unnecessarily.

When projects involve young people or sensitive stories, collaborate with appropriate creative, program, safeguarding, and legal leaders.

Music can intensify emotion.

That power should be used thoughtfully.

Qualifications

Required

• Demonstrated experience in music composition, scoring, music production, or a closely related discipline.
• Strong portfolio or composition reel.
• Strong understanding of musical storytelling.
• Experience composing to picture or narrative material.
• Proficiency with professional digital audio workstations and composition tools.
• Understanding of MIDI, virtual instruments, audio production, and music-delivery workflows.
• Ability to provide thoughtful creative direction and feedback.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to manage multiple creative projects and deadlines.
• Ability to lead, mentor, and develop other composers.
• Reliable participation in a remote creative environment.
• Alignment with MAP's mission and dignity-centered values.

Preferred

• Experience composing for animation, film, television, games, podcasts, children's media, or digital storytelling.
• Experience leading composers or multidisciplinary music teams.
• Experience with orchestration or arranging.
• Experience collaborating with directors, editors, animators, and sound designers.
• Familiarity with recording and mixing workflows.
• Experience developing themes, motifs, and musical identities.
• Knowledge of music licensing and intellectual-property considerations.
• Experience with youth-centered or mission-driven creative work.

Formal education in music composition, film scoring, music production, or a related discipline is welcomed but not required.

Exceptional creative work, leadership ability, musical judgment, and demonstrated experience matter more than credentials alone.

What Success Looks Like

PromiseStudios develops a recognizable standard of musical excellence.

Projects receive thoughtful musical direction.

Composers understand the story before they begin scoring it.

Music enters the creative process earlier.

Animation, film, audio, and music teams collaborate effectively.

Creative feedback becomes clearer and more consistent.

Music files and versions remain organized.

Original compositions are appropriately documented.

Emerging composers receive meaningful mentorship.

Different projects develop distinct musical identities rather than sounding interchangeable.

And PromiseStudios develops a music team capable of producing work greater than what any single composer could create alone.

Why This Role Matters

A character can enter a room without saying anything, and music can tell us that everything has changed.

A melody can become associated with a person, place, memory, possibility, or fear.

A few notes introduced at the beginning of a story can return near the end and mean something entirely different.

That is the power of composition.

PromiseStudios is not looking for someone simply to place music underneath images.

We are looking for a creative leader who understands that music is part of the story itself.

Commitment

• Approximately 5–10 hours per week
• Minimum 6-month commitment
• Fully remote
• Regular coordination with PromiseStudios creative leadership
• Participation in applicable creative reviews and production meetings
• Consistent leadership of the composition team
• Ownership of agreed music priorities through completion
• Timely communication through MAP's approved collaboration platforms

What You'll Gain

• Creative leadership experience within a growing multidisciplinary studio.
• Opportunity to build and lead MAP's music-composition function.
• Experience scoring original animation, film, audio, and storytelling projects.
• Collaboration with animators, filmmakers, writers, editors, sound designers, voice performers, and producers.
• Opportunity to develop original scores and portfolio-ready work.
• Experience establishing professional music-production workflows.
• Opportunity to mentor and develop emerging composers.
• Professional references and recommendations based on demonstrated contribution.
• Meaningful opportunity to shape the musical identity of PromiseStudios.

How to Apply

Interested candidates must apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• Cover letter
• Music composition portfolio, demo reel, or examples of original scoring work

Applicants should highlight relevant experience in music composition, scoring, animation, film, music production, creative leadership, or related areas.

This is an unpaid volunteer creative leadership position.

At this time, MAP volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, compliance, and programmatic requirements.

Listen to the story before writing the music. Build the team. Shape the sound. Create scores that give our stories another way to speak.