Creating Without Limits

30/04/25

Today, on International Guide Dog Day, I’m celebrating the unique ways we all overcome challenges and achieve our dreams - no matter the obstacles in our path. My name is Pippa Cleary - I’m a professional West End musical theatre composer, lyricist, and educator, and I’ve been visually impaired since birth.

I started piano at the age of six. Music was always a passion, but my sight meant that reading music was a constant struggle. My mum would blow up the music to make it bigger, but even then, I could only read one line at a time - and that was incredibly slow. Being an impatient learner, I’d get frustrated and end up improvising and making up the rest. I realised that I didn’t have to do things in the traditional way. I started listening more, trusting my ear, and focusing on the parts I could do well. I now have a strong musical ear that has become the foundation for my career as a musical theatre composer.

Today, I’m proud to have had three shows produced on the West End: The Great British Bake Off Musical, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and critically acclaimed My Son’s A Queer,  (coming to New York this summer!). I’ve also written for animated movies, adverts and jingles.

As a visually impaired composer, I can’t do everything myself, and that’s perfectly okay! I compose by ear and collaborate with other professionals, musical directors, orchestrators, and producers to bring my ideas to life. This collaborative process is now one of my favorite parts of composing. I want children to know that if something feels impossible on your own, you don’t have to give up - you can work with others who have different strengths and together, you can make something amazing. 

At Pippa’s Poppets, a core foundation of our teaching is to be uplifting and encouraging. We focus on the under 5s which is a hugely important age group in terms of just how much and how quickly you learn. It’s never too early to be creative and we love introducing children to the joy of singing, dancing and music theory. But most importantly, they develop core skills such as resilience, teamwork and respect which they will carry for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether or not they continue with music.

I also love teaching songwriting workshops for primary school children, teenagers and young adults. They give me the lyrics and style, and I turn it into a full song in front of them. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how creative they can be when they let their imaginations run wild. A lot of kids tell me they can’t write music because they can’t read it. But there are so many ways to create music today, especially with technology. You don’t need to be classically trained to try things out and make art.

If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it would be this - don’t be afraid of setbacks because there’s always a way around them. Creativity is not about being perfect, it’s about expressing yourself and finding your own path.

So, as we celebrate International Guide Dog Day today, I want to remind everyone that it’s okay to ask for help and that anything is possible if you sometimes think outside the box!