Sennheiser UK has a close working relationship with the British Music Experience, which benefits students from a number of educational establishments. This, however, was the biggest session the company had hosted so far, with no less than six coach loads of eager new students on the Music Management and Audio & Music Production courses at Bucks New Uni attending.
As the number of students was so high, the party was split into two halves. The first half of the students toured the museum and its many iconic exhibits, while the other half enjoyed a seminar provided by Sennheiser. For the second part of the day, the parties swapped over.
The seminar was presented by Sennheiser UK artist relations manager Phil Cummings and the company's live sound specialist, Dave Wooster. It included a presentation about the company's history, the role of artist relations and relationships with engineers, as well as the live tours that Phil and the Sennheiser UK team have been involved with over the past 12 months.
"The idea was to give the students a taste of who we are and what we do within the industry," says Cummings. "We had one of our up and coming endorsees, Laura Steel on hand and her band, who performed acoustically through the KR200 K-Array [one of the brands that Sennheiser distributes in the UK] system, which was mixed by Dave.
"We then had a Q&A session hosted by Andrew Reynolds (senior lecturer in live music at the university), which involved Laura, Dave and myself answering questions from the students about our jobs, the industry and Sennheiser as a company."
Cummings concludes, "At Sennheiser UK, we strongly believe that 'putting something back' is a key part of our role within the pro audio industry. As well as offering professional support, by working closely with the British Music Experience and leading educational establishments, we can ensure that the next generation of sound engineers gets the best possible start.
"How much someone enjoys learning is usually key to how much they take onboard, so these educational days are the ideal way to give the students a head start."
(Jim Evans)
