The Educator Magazine U.K. Sept-Dec 2022 - Magazine - Page 58
Music College WaterBear
hits the high note with second
campus launch event
The pioneering college of music WaterBear, is celebrating a highly successful launch
event to mark the upcoming opening of its second college campus.
WaterBear Sheffield will welcome independent artists and musician students from
September 2023, following the exceptional success of its inaugural college in
Brighton and with an unrivalled reputation for specialist music education.
Embracing WaterBear’s
ethos of supporting
independent, DIY artists
to build long-term,
sustainable careers in the
music industry, WaterBear
Sheffield will offer a rich
programme of BA (Hons)
Degrees and MA courses.
The anticipated launch
event, presided over by
WaterBear’s Chairman
Terry Sweeney, was held
at The Network Sheffield,
a live music venue
located in the heart of the
city. Budding artists and prospective
students, educational providers,
members of the media and established
industry contacts travelled from across
the UK to attend.
Opening the event and highlighting the
college’s passion for developing young
artists was a performance from the
locally-based four-piece indie rock band,
BLOOM. Following an introduction from
the college’s founders and music
education pioneers Adam Bushell and
Bruce John Dickinson, special live
performances also came from local artists
and bands including headline act and
rapper Coco, Harri Larkin, DJ Lamour,
English rock band Bang Bang Romeo and
WaterBear alumni Lily Knott and Go For
It Tribe.
Throughout the evening, guests gained
a valuable insight into the courses and
curriculum, the WaterBear student
experience, student career opportunities
and artist development, and
accommodation and finance. Attendees
also had the opportunity to visit the new
Sheffield campus currently under
construction, located on the site of the
iconic Gatecrasher nightclub building.
WaterBear’s Chairman, Terry Sweeney,
commented “It was a privilege to join
Adam, Bruce and the WaterBear
strongly that music
education just wasn’t
keeping up and it wasn’t
geared for the realities of
how the music industry
has changed. So, we got
together and thought we
have to do another music
college, and we have to
make it about how things
have changed, more about
the independent, selfreliant, self-motivated DIY
artist so, we started
WaterBear in Brighton and
four years later, here we are.
family on what has been a monumental
evening to celebrate the launch of
WaterBear Sheffield.
“WaterBear has been on an incredible
journey to date with four successful years
providing first-class music education,
enabling students to achieve a solid
foundation for a sustainable career in the
music industry. We are now immensely
looking forward to the next stage of
our evolution in growing the WaterBear
brand.”
Speaking of WaterBear’s journey at the
event Co-founder Adam Bushell said,
“We’ve seen a change in the music
industry over the last twenty years, huge
changes, but we felt
“Brighton is going really well, we have
around 500 students for this September
so, it was the perfect time for us to branch
out and look for another place, and I’m so
amazingly happy that we’ve stuck a pin
in Sheffield. Today marks the starting gun
and the countdown to when the college
opens in September 2023.”
Co-Founder Bruce John Dickinson added,
“This one is a bit special. It feels to me,
and I don’t know if this is because I’m
from Scarborough, but it feels like music
education is coming home. There’s a vibe
in the city that you notice immediately
when you come into the town, it feels like
everything is coming together, it feels like
a culture of relations - that’s already
happening and we want to be a part of
it. We want to do our bit to pull things
together and do cool stuff – it’s about
two things, new music and creating new
jobs in a great sector. So, if you put that
together with the talent in this city, we
believe the sky is the limit so we are super
excited about being here.”
Students wishing to find out more about
the courses on offer at WaterBear
Sheffield or Brighton, or to enrol can visit:WaterBear Sheffield
https://waterbear.org.uk/sheffield/
WaterBear Brighton
https://waterbear.org.uk/brighton/