Lakeside Arts placement: Chloe's experience

Where was your placement and what were your tasks?

In the second year of my degree I took part in an arts administration traineeship with Lakeside Arts.

The main focus of the traineeship was to help the staff at Lakeside run the University Choir and Philharmonia Orchestra. I had been involved in the University Choir prior to applying for this role, and enjoyed it a lot, so the prospect of running it was really exciting.

My tasks ranged from setting up for rehearsals and tracking attendance, to organising concerts in the city centre and creating marketing campaigns.

How did you find out about your placement? What made you want to do one?

I heard about this traineeship through the ‘welcome back’ meeting held by the music department during welcome week, and it really sparked my interest.

Although I have a big passion for music, and love playing my instruments recreationally, my professional interests lie behind the stage and so this opportunity was a perfect chance for me to explore what non-performance career paths there are within the music industry.

What was the most enjoyable part of your placement?

My highlight of the experience was our concert at St. Mary’s Church in the city centre.

In the lead up to this event we assisted with the running of big rehearsals where the whole choir and the orchestra were all in the Rehearsal Hall in the music department together. This was quite hectic to make sure that everybody was in the right place at the right time, but it was so fun to hear everybody perform together for the first time. 

We also had to create posts on Instagram and Facebook to advertise ticket sales - this went so well that the concert ended up sold out!

On the day, we made sure that all the orchestral instruments made it safely into the city centre and inside the venue. I never thought I would be able to say that I have carried a harp through Nottingham city centre, but now I can! The performance went perfectly, and it was so rewarding knowing that I had played a big role in such a successful event coming together, and in a great venue.

What transferable skills did you gain?

My time as an arts administration trainee was a fantastic experience, and as Lakeside are affiliated with the university, they understood the demands of a degree so the role fitted perfectly around this. They were always so understanding when we had upcoming deadlines.

The role taught me that this is a career path that I would love to pursue as it allows me to stay involved in the world of music without performing.

The traineeship also highlighted that I have skills in organisation that ended up being very useful for this type of role. I even went on to do a summer placement at Dartington music festival where I built upon what I learnt at Lakeside Arts and continued to build connections to help me with my future career after I finish my degree.

Find out more about our Faculty of Arts placements, in the Placement Experiences blog.