Meet Naomi
Contemporary and Popular Music BA
Why I chose Newcastle University
I really loved the university campus and the city when I first visited, and I knew that I wanted to come before I had decided my subject, but the facilities for the Music degree and the breadth of choice in what I could actually study on the course was why I picked Newcastle.
I love how flexible my course is, and that I can be studying songwriting one day, music history or folk traditions the next, and can attend so many free concerts as part of the course. The city is so incredible for live music opportunities as well, there's always something to go and see!
About my course
It's a super well-rounded degree that’s just really great. It combines performance, composition, musicology and music history, and you can really pick and choose what your interests are, especially in second and third year.
I love how varied my degree has been, I've written about Chappell Roan and gender, representations in album covers and classical artwork, Eurovision, and music radio - as well as creating an entire EP for my songwriting assessment.
If you love music and want to be able to explore the subject in a way that interests you, you should definitely look at my degree - there's so many different ways to take the degree, if you're a performer, researcher, composer, or anything else!
Societies and clubs
I'm part of the Musical Theatre Society and also a member of Student Media. Being in these societies is great because I can be really passionate about my interests and hang out with people who enjoy the same things. With Musical Theatre, we get to put on a full production achievement year, and my role in the first-year show was something I will genuinely never forget, it was so fun! Student Media is great because I get to run my own radio show for Newcastle Student Radio, and I'm also Head of Music, so I get to help out and find brand new music for everyone at the station.
How Newcastle helped me realise my future
I'd love to be a performer full-time, but there's lots of different paths I'm interested in. I'd love to get into radio professionally, as a presenter or playlists, and I'm also considering music education!
There's a lot that I wouldn't have considered before coming to Newcastle - radio would never have been on my radar, I was really against the idea of doing music education professionally before I got stuck into the module here, and the performance opportunities have helped me establish myself in the North East music scene.
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