Y12 students at Cardinal Newman College met with music industry professionals at a special event on Wednesday 18 June 2025, organised in partnership by More Music and Cardinal Newman College.

This was the second time this partnership music industry event has taken place, following on from last year.  There were 50 music students in attendance, meeting with a panel of experienced professionals from across the music industry, all with roots in the North West.

The guest speakers were:

·      Karen Boardman – Director of Crisis Music Management, managing artists including all-female punk band Loose Articles
·      Lily Carassik –  session trumpeter, composer and educator, she has played at major festivals and gigs with artists including George Ezra, Camilla Cabello, Gary Barlow and more
·      Max Maguire – film, tv and video game composer with credits including Star Trek: Picard, Gladiator 2 and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
·      William Wolstenholme – presenter of the BBC Introducing Lancashire and Cumbria radio show

They were joined on the panel by two Cardinal Newman alumni who have gone on to start their own careers in the music industry, session drummer Louis Reilly and producer/songwriter Joel Gardner.

The event provided a valuable insight into different areas of the music industry, how each panellist got their start, what attributes you need to build a career and lots of helpful information drawn from their own experiences. Through the discussions, the panel highlighted key themes such as the huge importance of networking, being proactive to achieve your goals, being open and ready for opportunities and maintaining your resilience in a freelance career.  The event also featured a debate on the future of the music industry and the impacts of technology, such as AI and social media.

Students had the opportunity to ask questions throughout the event and there was time for more informal conversations at the end with the panellists.

Darren Leadsom, Education and Inclusion Manager at More Music, said “We had a fantastic panel for this event from different areas of the music industry, which meant the event covered a wide range of experiences and offered up lots of valuable advice for the students. It was great to work in partnership with Cardinal Newman College again too.”

James Cruickshanks, Head of Music Technology at Cardinal Newman College, said:
“We are so pleased to be able to hold this event for a second year running. It is such an invaluable experience for our students to be able to interact with industry professionals. I am very thankful to the guests and I know that our students found the event to be extremely useful in planning their own creative careers.”

Feedback from students:

– “I enjoyed learning about everyone’s different jobs and how they can all be linked together.”

– “I learnt a lot about the different career aspects in the music industry”

– “I found it interesting that the people who came in started in a similar spot as me.”

– “I enjoyed the parts where the visitors explained their backgrounds and stories of how they first started in the industry.”

– “I found the discussion about the future of the industry very interesting.”

The event was supported by Lancashire Music Hub and Youth Music.