Alumni Spotlight – Freya, Music at EKC Canterbury College

Freya Rogers studied Level 3 Music Performance and Production at EKC Canterbury College, from 2021 to 2023. 

Over the course of two years, she grew in confidence both in herself and her musical abilities, and left College with a Distinction.  

Thanks to finding her true passion in College, she progressed to Canterbury Christ Church University to study Music further. 

We spoke to her on the university campus to hear how she’s getting on, what she loved about College, and her advice to those unsure about their future. 

What experiences did you have in College that made you want to study at university?  

To be honest, when I first started College, I never really knew that I wanted to do music as a career. I loved singing but I didn’t know then that it was really my passion. My brother was the one who encouraged me to learn more about it which is why I studied at Canterbury. 

Thanks to the course, I took part in lots of performances, and started to enjoy performing so much, especially because I got to know other musicians and see what they were doing. I’m really happy that I’m able to continue to have fun performing with others on my degree. 

Ultimately, I came to university to do my degree because I want to go down the route of music therapy, which was a career path I learnt about thanks to College. 

What advice would you have for someone who wants to study Music, whether that be in College or at University?  

I would say focus on music theory in College because it makes your first year of a music degree so much easier. You should also just have fun and get to know everyone.  

If someone has different tastes in music, for example, they do heavy metal and you do reggae, you may think you won’t get on. However, I’d still get to know them because it can come in use with different styles that you may end up wanting to learn about in the future.  

We’ve heard you’ve worked with the College since you went to university – tell us more about that: 

For one of our units, we’re working with current students at EKC Canterbury College, to help them improve their performance skills and learn from us. We’re bringing them out of their shell a bit more with performance.  

We’re also showing them what the university lifestyle is like, so that they know the facts when it comes to making their decisions about next steps. 

College was one of the best times of my life, so it’s been interesting to see how they now perceive College as well. It’s nice learning that we all have similar thoughts that I did at College about how great it was, and I hope they have the same thoughts about university as well. 

What are you looking forward to about these performances with the College?  

Again, it’s just really nice working with people I haven’t worked with before. I like to try new genres, and create new styles.  

Seeing my old lecturers has also been really nice as I’ve gotten to catch up with them and see how far I’ve come. You also get to realise with events like this that there are so many other successful students in College that are thinking about going to university and going further with their music like I did.   

Finally, what are you hoping to do once you’ve graduated uni?  

I’ll be going on to do my Masters in Manchester, and then going on to a music therapy course to be able to help others using music. 

I’ll also be gigging on the side if I can because I love it! 

Thank you to Freya for sharing her story of being a student. If you’re inspired by her journey and would like to start your own, explore our Music courses today.