His keyboard skills landed him a role throughout his time at Lancaster with the LU Theatre Group, playing for ‘West Side Story’, ‘Threepenny Opera’, ‘Pirates of Penzance’ and ‘Guys and Dolls’, on top of holding down two part-time paid jobs in the Sugar House and South End Stores.
His horizons widened further thanks to a vacation opportunity to do a vocational music teaching exchange with a school near New York. His final dissertation was on music therapy, which he considered as a career.
Here he reflects on his sadness at the closure of Lancaster’s Music Department in 2015: “Music is one of the liberal arts,” he says. “It is such an important subject as pretty much everyone is touched by it.”
Although he mourns the loss of the Music Department for what it gave the University, he points out the breadth of music-making opportunities currently available for musical students studying other subjects. Lancaster claims to have the largest student-led music society in England. Music groups of all descriptions flourish as well.
Fred’s intention to go into some kind of teaching or therapeutic role was thwarted soon after his graduation, by the appearance of a job within the University as part of a team running creative art workshops in schools, so he ended up working in the Volunteering Unit for the Student’s Union for a year.
This put him in a prime position when another post came up promoting the University in schools, based in the Student Recruitment Office and eventually he became Head of UK Student Recruitment and Outreach. He broadened his experience in recruitment posts at Southampton and Bangor Universities between 2013 and 2022, before seizing the opportunity to return to Lancaster, in his current position.
“You could say there’s a link between music and recruitment,“ he says. “There’s a performance element to recruitment and there’s always a place for jazz hands!”
As a Gemini, he confesses to having a ‘portfolio career and a portfolio personality’ which keeps him constantly busy. Alongside the day job, he’s in constant demand as a pianist including workshops at a local stage school, playing for weddings and other celebrations, and regular spots at hotels in Cumbria.
So how did his time at Lancaster shape him? “It gave me so many experiences - people I met and people I’m in touch with. It also gave me a love of learning. It cemented for me how important education is and how many doors it opens and unlocks. It also taught me to look at things from many different perspectives.”
Find out more about student recruitment at Lancaster:
www.lancaster.ac.uk/study
Or if you are a teacher and would like to connect to support your Uni entry students:
www.lancaster.ac.uk/schools-and- colleges/
KEEP IN TOUCH
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