Award winning musician ROE to share stage with 250 learners at NWRC’s Best in FE celebrations

An award winning musician who chose to study at North West Regional College (NWRC) after achieving straight As in her GCSEs, will be the special guest at the college’s Best in Further Education (FE) celebrations at the Millennium Forum next week.

NWRC graduate Roisin Donald (ROE), who studied the BTEC Level 3 in Music at Strand Road campus, and later the Higher National Certificate in Music, has gone on to support some of the world’s most famous music stars including Snow Patrol and Kodaline, at their live gigs.

The 20 year-old multi-instrumentalist from Derry~Londonderry was also named Best Emerging Artist at the 2018 Northern Ireland Music Prize, and last year performed on the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury.

Her latest single Down Days was released on February 1st, and featured on a number of prominent streaming playlists including “New Music Friday UK” and “New Pop Revolution” on Spotify, racking up 20,000 streams in its first week of release.

But despite her huge success blazing a trail for young female indie artists across the world, home, is an important place for ROE. Her voice was recently part of UK wide advertising campaign to promote her hometown, and ROE says she’s delighted to return to her roots at NWRC, to be part of the Best in FE celebration event.

The NWRC graduate, who will sing live at the Best in FE celebrations, added that the support she received at the college was pivotal in helping to shape her music career.

She said: “The Music department at NWRC were so supportive to me. They helped me develop myself as a musician and I felt like I could always go to them for advice and guidance.

“NWRC is where I met my now manager/producer Liam Craig who is also the head of Level 3 Music Technology, so without NWRC I wouldn’t be where I am now. It’s helped me become a better musician by giving me the experience I needed and helped me meet so many of the people who have supported me throughout my career so far.”

Hosted by BBC presenter and weatherman, Barra Best, the Best in FE Awards will celebrate the achievements of more than 250 Further Education graduates from the College’s campuses across Derry~Londonderry, Strabane and Limavady.

The students will be accompanied by their families and friends and will be joined by other special and invited guests.

The event is always one of the highlights in the College calendar, and will involve the presentation of certificates and prizes to students from the four main curriculum departments across all College campuses.