Music Student thanks Edge Hill for setting her up on road to success

Music production student Emily Stirrup is laser-focused on a career making live events happen thanks to the skills she’s developed at Edge Hill and the support she’s received. 

The 22-year-old from Essex, graduating with First Class Honours from Edge Hill University, ditched her traditional A-level subjects and switched to the more vocational path of music tech at college, discovering her passion. 

Emily’s dissertation scored one of the highest marks in the course’s history.

Her exploration into female sound engineers’ experiences in a traditionally male-dominated industry has helped her develop enviable connections and experience: 

“I interviewed five current and former female sound engineers and learned so much. It also led to me shadowing one of them working as a monitor engineer at a Keane gig in Birmingham’s Utilita Arena. It was inspiring. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.” 

The opportunities Emily has created and taken advantage of on campus are taking her confidently into life beyond uni. She has been student course rep for three years and helped set up the new Edgehog University radio station and the Music and Songwriting Society. Her work in the department’s media store and studios, supporting open days and other events, is something she’ll remember fondly: 

“You learn so much and have the opportunity to bring others up with you. I’ve helped film students and learned from them too. I’m all about diversifying my knowledge. I’ve done studio tours for prospective students and their parents and even ran the studio alone! You learn a lot when you run into issues and have to figure them out yourself. There are so many great active learning opportunities.” 

Emily knows she’s destined to be a sound engineer, but in such a fluid industry, she’s open to any opportunities that come along, starting with a placement in the Lake District: 

“I’ll be part of a team of three leading a week-long workshop teaching kids about live sound, streaming and lighting. It will end with us staging a band in front of a paying audience. I’ve also got a couple of gigs lined up as a sound engineer, and I’ll be following up on contacts I made on placement with an audio hire company.  

“I want to be around live sound. My dream is to be part of a crew, doing big gigs as an audio or monitor engineer. It’s a weird industry. It doesn’t have a traditional hierarchy. You don’t move up in job role; you’re always an audio engineer. Instead, you move up to bigger companies, bigger gigs, bigger artists. A job I may have in 15 years may not exist currently. That’s why I firmly believe in going with the flow.” 

After college, Emily was considering studying in London, but she knows she made the right choice with Edge Hill: 

“It’s a beautiful campus, very safe, and there’s excellent support. It’s such a family unit. Every single member of staff has had an impact on me in some way. They genuinely care and want you to succeed. The office is always open. If you put the time in and show a bit of initiative, they have all the time in the world for you. 

“You make the difference to your Edge Hill experience. I gave this degree 100% and got 150% back. It’s been amazing.” 

Find out more about studying Music Production at Edge Hill University.

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