Performance students gain a great platform at The Humber Street Sesh

Humber Street Sesh, the biggest music festival in the Hull area, recently showcased 200 bands and acts over two days, Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd August, on 14 music stages located around Hull’s marina and the city’s old fruit market, on Humber Street.

Wilberforce Sixth Form College was delighted to sponsor the popular Youth Stage which hosted performances from some of the region’s finest young performers on the Saturday of this unique Hull Festival.

Lewis Marrow, who teaches on the Music Performance Course at Wilberforce explains why this was such a great opportunity for Wilberforce students to perform on, or help out at, the Youth Stage:

“Wilberforce College has been and continues to be committed to supporting, educating and encouraging our students to excel both in the class room and outside of it.  We are proud to be part of Hull’s music scene and to be a pivotal player in supporting young musicians today so they can become the professional musicians of the future. 

Our Music Performance course is tailored to meet the needs of actual vocational work in the music industry.  Our bands have been gigging non-stop around Hull venues for a full year in preparation for this and we are immensely proud to show you just what talented singers, songwriters, and musicians are coming out of our classrooms at our college.

We’ve even started our own Record Label – Ronno Records – to release our students’ music on all major platforms and streaming sites.”

The College’s sponsorship of the Youth Stage, in collaboration with Freedom Road Creative Arts, a fantastic organisation of musicians and youth workers, created a performance space hosting amazing young talent, giving them a platform from which they could gain the experience needed to become future festival headliner acts! From acoustic to metal, punk to rock, Wilberforce students were thrilled to have had the chance to perform to a large crowd.

College Principal, Colin Peaks, commented:

“We encourage all our performance students to gain as much live experience as they can, and by supporting the Youth Stage we can provide young performers from across the region with an audience for the day.  It is also a brilliant opportunity for many of our students to get involved behind the scenes at a music festival. Our dance, drama, music and media courses have 100% pass rates and experiences like this ensure our graduates are even more employable.”