Wednesday 23 September 2009

A view from a student on work experience

A couple of weeks ago David Allen, a student at Cambridge University visited us on a two-week work experience placement. Here he talks about what it was like;

Ah, the life of a student. Lazy days spent doing very little indeed, the occasional lecture if you remember to get out of bed in time, no responsibilities and the drinks bill to match. In between the sessions spent watching reruns of The West Wing on DVD, however, thoughts occasionally turn to the future.

Which is why I’ve spent the last two weeks on work experience at Britten Sinfonia. For me, there’s no better prospect than helping to produce great music with a wonderful orchestra. I’ve been working in the marketing department, so there have been plenty of envelopes to stuff with promotional material for our new season, alongside the odd bit of filing and database updating.

There’s been more exciting stuff. My big project has been working out how to get more of my peers at Cambridge University to Britten Sinfonia concerts: hours of lateral thinking later, and I’ve come up with a cunning plan… Best of all, though, was the afternoon I spent with the Creative Learning department. We ran a workshop for Essex County Council showing how music could teach teamwork and leadership skills. I even made my conducting début in a quickly improvised piece for untuned percussion, chime bells, and viola (not a common combination, granted).

It’s been a brilliant two weeks, and I can’t wait to come back!

David Allen


We are pleased that David had such a positive experience (despite a lot of envelope stuffing) and are grateful for his hardwork particularly his suggestions on how to get more of his fellow students to our concerts. He's also promised to come back and help with some ushering (and maybe a bit more envelope stuffing!)

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