Major Expansion Announced for Music College

Building on the phenomenal success of its inaugural college in Brighton, the landmark music education college WaterBear, has unveiled plans for its second college opening.

WaterBear Sheffield, will open its doors in September 2023, providing an additional choice of location to independent artists and musician students keen to embrace WaterBear’s ethos of building a long term, sustainable career in the music industry.  

Founded by music education pioneers Adam Bushell and Bruce John Dickinson, and with its BA (Hons) and MA degrees awarded by Falmouth University, WaterBear has built a reputation for its dedication to specialist one-to-one mentoring, focused class sizes and exclusive development opportunities across the music industry. The college offers courses across the full spectrum of music, including song writing, audio production, electronic music, performance and enterprise/business, as well as access to perform in its very own venue.

Since opening in September 2018, WaterBear’s Brighton location has enjoyed many successes, supporting students in connecting with an audience and mentoring them in how to remain in full control of their career, all the way to stadium level and beyond. WaterBear has already built an impressive alumni body of past students including Sacha Skarbek, a Grammy nominated and two time Ivor Novello winning songwriter who’s worked with artists such as Samantha Mumba and Beverley Knight, and who also played a key role in the development of James Blunt with whom he wrote the worldwide no.1 hit ‘You’re Beautiful’.

Co-founder Adam Bushell comments on the expansion plans:

“Thanks to our remarkable students — who forever champion us — our unrivalled reputation for specialist music education has quickly spread, and we started attracting attention from talent across the country.

“The name of our group is taken from one of the most resilient creatures on the planet, the Water Bear. We work closely with each and every student to ensure that they have all the knowledge and support they need to develop a truly sustainable career to handle any setbacks or pitfalls they encounter along the way.”

“The national recognition of our education philosophy is encouraging, because opening a college in the North was always in our sights, after all, the North itself is somewhat unrivalled in its music talent and industry output,” adds WaterBear co-founder Bruce John Dickinson — who, in 2001, co-founded the now widely successful BIMM (British and Irish Modern Music) institute.

“We will be opening our college on the site of the iconic Gatecrasher nightclub building on Arundel Street, Sheffield. Gatecrasher was not only a global icon, but to many, it’s a Sheffield treasure,” Bushell continues.

“Through our rich program of music BA (Hons) Degrees and MA courses, we hope to channel the creative spirit that Gatecrasher pioneered and infuse it with our own educational dynamism.”

An educational dynamism that, during their time at BIMM, saw Dickinson and Bushell help shape the music careers of now-celebrated artists, including George Ezra, James Bay, Tom Odell, Beth Rowley, The Kooks, Fickle Friends and more.