City Year UK collaborates with Mastercard UK to host their Mic Drop Talk events

Over the last two months, City Year UK teamed up with Mastercard UK to bring their Mic Drop Talk events to two of City Year UK’s partner schools. The workshop-style event is a school outreach initiative, which is part of Mastercard UK’s BRIT Awards sponsorship. The initiative aims to inspire young people interested in creative industries by featuring music industry professionals who visit schools and share their experiences.

For the first of the two events in February, City Year UK hosted Master Card UK at their Greater Manchester-based partner school, St Cuthberts RC High School. Students at St Cuthberts were treated to an energetic performance from singer and songwriter Young Athena, a rising star in the London music scene.

After Young Athena’s performance, students then listened to an engaging talk from music industry experts, also participating in a Q&A session with them. The session provided St Cuthbert students with an excellent opportunity to gain industry insights and guidance on pursuing a creative career. Here’s what a couple of students had to say about the event:

“I found the event informative and useful. My favorite part was the performance from Young Athena, her vocals were insane! The event was great because I am interested in backstage tech, lighting and sound, and overall, it was so enjoyable!” (Isaac, Year 11)

“It was really good, and really well ran. The setup was so professional and I was inspired by Young Athena’s performance and the lady who worked for Festival Republic. Everyone who came to visit was really nice!” (Daniel, Year 10)

Following on from February’s event, the team at Mastercard UK took a trip the West Midlands in March, to deliver a second Mic Drop Talk event in collaboration with City Year UK at their partner school Q3 Academy Langely. The second event invited the New Zealand-born artist JANAYAH to perform; a singer known for her exciting and dynamic, genre-bending approach to pop music.

JANAYAH delivered an electric performance for the students at Q3 Langely. Similar to the previous event, the performance was accompanied by a talk and a Q&A session with music industry experts, during which Q3 students also gained valuable insights into the realities of a career in the creative sector.

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Mastercard UK for delivering these events for the students at our partner schools and for inspiring them to pursue their creative dreams!