Higher National students take part in WOW London Showcase
As part of an annual event, students from the Music Academia Italia in Bologna visited London last month to take part in The London Showcase, in partnership with The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP).
Students currently studying Music at Academia Italia campuses all over Italy auditioned to take part in the show, and 14 students came over to the UK this year to perform in front of industry experts at the iconic ‘Bedford’ venue in Balham, South London on 26th February. This is the venue that has seen many Global artists perform, including Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and George Ezra.
This annual event has now been running for a number of years, providing students with the chance to really showcase their talent and receive constructive feedback on their performances. It also enables them to gain that invaluable experience of performing, which helps to build confidence in their abilities. The feedback given will help students reflect on their performances and explore areas for development.
This is the first year that the event was run in collaboration with the ICMP, our largest UK delivery partner for Higher Nationals in Music. It was therefore fantastic to see this partnership with Music Academia, our largest international partner for Music.
Music Academia currently teaches Higher Nationals in Music and this particular experience really highlights the value of industry engagement, a key ethos of our career-focused Higher Nationals. It is also worth highlighting that the centre places value on further education as well, offering students the chance to progress and gain a degree from the University of Bedfordshire in the UK.
As part of the trip, on Tuesday 25th February, we welcomed Music Academia students to our Pearson offices at 80 Strand in central London for lunch. This provided a great opportunity for Pearson colleagues to meet with students and staff.
Fiona Ross, our Higher National Subject Lead for Music and Performing Arts, coordinated the lunch and was a member of the industry panel at the showcase.
We look forward to continuing this tradition which helps us to build strong relationships with our partners, and provide HN students with an excellent opportunity to practice their skills in the real world.