The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance

At my school, on a Wednesday afternoon, we have CCF: Combined Cadet Force. Basically, you go into either Army, Navy or RAF and (for the mostpart) waste a lot of time standing still, marching and being shouted at by a short man with a shrill voice and a stupid hat. Of course, that's a little harsh, the CCF courses enforce leadership skills, teamwork skills and I'm sure there are some people who enjoy it. Plus, Duke of Edinborough is a useful qualification to have when an employer looks at your CV. However, when people come home from trips literally dripping with mud and their stomachs empty, I do kind of lose faith in the education system.

Fortunately for myself (being a bit of a wuss), I managed to get out of CCF and do Music activities along with about 60 other similarly minded people. We do things like Chamber Music, Brass Groups, Masterclasses with visitors and small concerts. Right now I'm doing the paperwork for my ARCO (Associated Royal College of Organists) exam and a string group (which I admittedly haven't bothered going to for the last three weeks).

Today it was CCF field day for my year, so the majority of 140-odd boys disappeared off to punish themselves in a variety of imaginative ways, leaving myself and 11 others to have our very own "Music Field Day." Basically, there was an Improvisation Workshop in the morning (we got quite a jam going, surprisingly), some Chamber Music in the afternoon and a Conducting Workshop in the evening.

Before lunch, some guy from the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance came and gave a presentation about... well, Contemporary Music. The industry, possible jobs in it, everything. And in fact it was very interesting. The guy certainly knew what he was talking about (well, he air-guitared the first few bars of every single song he mentioned) and enthused me quite a bit. He talked about various jobs you could get in the industry, including Singer, Songwriter, Singer/Songwriter, Music Producer, Studio Musician, Backing Band, Music Journalist, the list goes on. He also spoke briefly about the sort of courses the ICMP offer. They do full 3 year courses and one year courses, all of which you emerge from with a diploma or degree of some kind, and they also do 3 month courses and Summer/weekend courses for those of us who are just trying it out. The ICMP certainly have a lot to do with some pretty big names (Take That, Will Young, Katie Melua, KT Tunstall, Mick Jagger, Keane (who incidentally went to my school)) and I would recommend checking their website.

Considering our music department is mostly classically minded, I was pleased and surprised to see something like this happening, and I hope more stuff like it makes it way onto our timetables!

But more importantly, if you're a guitarist, bassist, drummer or vocalist, and are interested in getting into that scene, the ICMP certainly seems to be a great way to do it.