Music Leader Internship with Faye Polden

When she arrived, we asked Faye:

How are you feeling?

'I feel excited about starting this new opportunity however as most musicians know excitement doesn’t come without nerves. Everyone has been great and supportive with introducing me to the team, tutors and partners.

I’m just about to finish my first week and I have had a lot of learning to process. I remember a great quote about learning “the more you learn, the less you know.” I was feeling this within the first week.'

Why did you apply for the internship?

'I applied for this position because after finishing my degree I stumbled into a few job opportunities and felt I was being pushed away from my passion of music. When this job role came on to my radar it seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore potential ideas I had and struggled to implement within music education.'

What do you hope to achieve?

'I hope to achieve a fuller understanding of music education and how it can open further learning opportunities to students. By understanding this I can move through my career with more confidence and feel more informed with my future choices.'

And what do you think after a month with us?

'Now that I’m coming towards the end of my first month, I have learnt a great deal and learnt how quickly time can pass!

In the first month, it has become clear to me that it is very important to structure my time effectively which allows me to complete all the tasks set including my own personal tasks.

I’m now looking forward to getting stuck in, planning activities for me to and having access to opportunities that would have otherwise been very tricky.

One of my highlights so far was visiting Glyndebourne and meeting part of the East Sussex Music team! Ruth Evans, Senior Education Projects Manager from Glyndebourne gave me some sound advice about making the most out of opportunities and spending the time to figure out how I can gain valued experience from each opportunity.

This advice got me thinking about how structuring my days would allow me to achieve more whilst I am here. Like most people I started with a good old list of things to complete and will be ticking these off every week sooo to all the music tutors, expect to see me around soon!!