Meaningful collaborations between music students

Professional development through student knowledge exchange
Closeup shot of a musical performer playing drums with his band
Plymouth University Professional Opportunities Scheme (PUPOS) connects BA (Hons) Music students with local community organisations, schools and businesses, as part of their degree. PUPOS provides an entirely mutually beneficial exchange; the students are able to gain crucial experience in a variety of sectors and build their personal and professional skills, while the external partners involved gain valuable support, knowledge and skill from students who are eager to put their studies and passion for music into practice
Harriet Drury, BA (Hons) Music graduate, was just one of the many music students who have benefitted from this scheme at the 抖阴短视频. Throughout the course of her BA (Hons) Music degree, Harriet undertook many artistic and professional development opportunities through the PUPOS scheme. One such opportunity involved gaining experience teaching at local school, Torbridge High, where she delivered songwriting and band development workshops to students.

Through PUPOS, Harriet gained key skills and experiences, including:

  • lesson planning
  • working in a professional environment
  • engaging and managing a classroom of pupils
  • time management and organisation.
Student composer competition - sheet music

NHS music video

Harriet was also involved in several musical development projects throughout her time at Plymouth, many of which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. One key project that Harriet led on was the NHS project, working in collaboration with the Emergency Team at Derriford Hospital.
The project involved creating a music video featuring NHS staff singing to 鈥楲ean on Me鈥. A number of students, including Harriet, recorded the backing instruments and vocals, which were later edited into an inspiring and moving video of doctors and nurses from Derriford鈥檚 Accident & Emergency department singing to the popular track. The video has surpassed 24,000 views on YouTube and helped to keep people鈥檚 spirits up in a time of instability, fear and loneliness for many.
鈥淢y mum works in the NHS so it was important to me. If I could make the staff鈥檚 lives better and if they could feel happy... I was actually working at a GP surgery at the time because it was so overrun with paperwork and stuff, you could just see it every day, how stressed people were, it鈥檚 mentally taxing when you鈥檙e doing your best but it鈥檚 still not enough. So, there wasn鈥檛 a question in my brain of 鈥榳ill I do this?鈥, it鈥檚 not about getting paid for things like this, it鈥檚 more about the emotional validation that you get from doing something nice.鈥 Harriet Drury, 抖阴短视频 BA (Hons) Music graduate

Interdisciplinary collaboration

鈥滻 think in the creative arts you find people that you just sort of work well with and I think with Zoe we just work well together because we鈥檙e both very driven people, we know what we want and we鈥檙e not afraid to do it.鈥 Harriet Drury, 抖阴短视频 BA (Hons) Music graduate
In February 2020, Harriet received an email from BA (Hons) Music Programme Lead and Manager of PUPOS Lee Whittock about the opportunity to meet some of the Plymouth College of Art and Design (PCAD) film students for a possible collaboration. Through this opportunity, Harriet met Zoe Jones. Since their initial meeting, the pair have completed a series of projects. The pair continue to collaborate on exciting projects over a year on.
The first project they collaborated on involved Harriet writing the music for a film Zoe was developing to submit to a competition. One of the key themes of the film and the competition sustainability, and so Zoe would send Harriet the music she was listening to at the time so that she could write something similar, adding the sounds of birds, wind and waves to fit the atmosphere and theme of the movie.

So my song writing is night and day, I鈥檓 a way better musician and composer from it now, and I met with Lee on Monday and we went through compositional technique, and I鈥檝e actually managed to land that job in London through having a portfolio and I never would have had that portfolio without working with Zoe.鈥

Harriet Drury, 抖阴短视频 BA (Hons) Music graduate

Overcoming challenges

During lockdown, Harriet and Zoe had to develop their projects with the limited equipment in a home setting. This made it more challenging, however, the two rose to the challenge and utilised the opportunity to achieve deeper levels of creativity through the remote project.
鈥淚t was tough, it had to be said. I鈥檇 just been shipped home and I had to do it on very minimal equipment, but I think that was actually a blessing in disguise because you can be really creative when there鈥檚 a limit to what you can do, so it really pushes you to be creative.鈥 Harriet Drury, 抖阴短视频 BA (Hons) Music graduate
A female individual using a laptop and making notes

Award winning support from Lee Whittock

Lee Whittock recently won the SSTAR Big Thank You Award at the 抖阴短视频 Student Union鈥檚 2022 ceremony.
Voted for by the students, Lee鈥檚 award is testimony to the commitment and hard work he demonstrates year on year to support his students鈥 personal and professional development through the PUPOS scheme.
Through Lee鈥檚 dedicated support and PUPOS鈥 ability to provide excellent opportunities throughout her degree, Harriet can now picture herself having a career as a professional musician. After all the help she has received from Lee, it doesn鈥檛 seem as daunting for Harriet to start a new chapter in her life.
"It鈥檚 not as scary anymore, it makes sense now I think, and Lee鈥檚 just been a massive help really...The thing with Lee, he鈥檚 very talented and he does care, and I think it really shows in his work, he鈥檚 always got time for you.鈥 Harriet Drury, 抖阴短视频 BA (Hons) Music graduate
This case study was written by Kate Artamonova, a student from the 抖阴短视频. Connect with Kate on
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