A Multi-Layered Musical Career- Luke’s Chester Journey

Firstly, why Chester?

I chose to study at the University of Chester because it was my hometown and the university had an esteemed reputation across the region which I wanted to experience.

What did you enjoy most about the course?

The diversity of study, opportunity and experiences was what I enjoyed most about the course. From performing live with my friends in local venues, to critically analysing and deconstructing live performances as a cohort, studying world music, receiving 1-1 tuition on my instrument, to learning how to rig and derig live performance spaces. During my course, every day, module, and assignment was a vivid and engaging opportunity to learn, develop and progress academically, socially, and personally.

Any advice for someone thinking of studying music?

Broaden your horizons of your musical taste by listening to different artists, genres, and eras outside of your repertoire. Do this by always being interested in finding and creating new sounds – sometimes a new song will find you, or sometimes you’ll find it yourself.

Either way, it will nourish your musical soul and will significantly enhance your technical and creative abilities. You don’t have to like it, but at least you tried! Musical arrogance is rife these days, so study and appreciate musical history, and try to be a part of it. As Keith Richards says, ‘If you’ve got a cat that turns you on, then there must be a cat that turns them on… and a cat that turned them on, and so on.’

What graduation role have you started? What areas are you working in and what does this entail?

Since graduating, I have had a diverse career journey: I trained to be a teacher during Covid, briefly went into Procurement, back to being a teacher; but I never gave up on my dream to apply my music degree. So, I’m pleased to tell you that I’m currently an apprentice at the BBC, where I am training to be a Broadcasting and Media Systems Technical Operator. This is a diverse job role where I can be any position within an Audio and Visual production – a Studio Manager, sound designer/editor, camera operator, video editor, etc. It’s the Swiss Army Knife of the technical media world! I’m so lucky to be in the position where my degree is directly connected to my career, and I encourage you to push yourself even harder, because it is possible!

How did your time at Chester prepare you for your future?

My time at Chester prepared me for my exciting new career with the BBC by helping me to the develop transferrable hard and soft skills. For example, my knowledge in music production was foundational in learning how to operate in a broadcasting studio environment – such as for music and speech radio, and television/film. After being recognised for my skills in rerigging studio-based performance spaces, I was given access to more technical workflows and have since been signed off as a Second Studio Manager. This opportunity wouldn’t have been possible without the experiences and training implemented by the University of Chester during my studies, and everyday I am able to demonstrate my advanced skillset – which stem directly back to my course.

Make sure to check out our Music course pages to see how you can gain skills that will set you up for a variety of careers!