Passion to perform leads musician to study music at NMIT

“I pretty much attached myself to music and it attached itself to me,” says Jessika.

Singing followed the piano, joined by guitar at 12, violin at 15 and this year at age 19, the banjo has taken centre stage.

But it wasn’t until Jess started studying the Diploma in Music at NMIT that she was able to take the next step in her musical journey and learn to perform as a contemporary musician.

“I always knew I wanted to perform and write songs and go down that path," says Jess, "Being involved in the classical music scene can be quite narrow, you join an orchestra, you study music and that’s about it.”

Jess says writing her own songs and performing in bands with her class mates has played a key part in developing her confidence as a contemporary musician.

“At NMIT, we do gigs’ every month. It’s been really good for me because I didn’t have much experience in performing so it’s definitely helped me with my stage craft, confidence and how I approach a gig.”

As part of the Diploma programme, Jess has been working with a musical mentor who has been helping her make new contacts in the industry.

“I know more people in the music industry now and can really utilise that to start performing,” says Jess, “It’s awesome, doing this programme has definitely brought me opportunities to get myself out there.”

The Certificate in Music and Diploma in Music are both one-year programmes aimed at providing introductory sound production, composition and musical performance skills for contemporary music at Levels 4 and 5.