Box Hill Institute has a well-earned reputation as one of the premier educators of aspiring musos, creatives, fashionistas and designers looking to get their start.
Their inaugural Winter Discovery Nights event sees the doors of their three campuses opened to prospective students in 2023 and beyond.
Taking place on the 23rd of August at their Box Hill campuses, and on the 25th of August at their Lilydale campus – Winter Discovery Nights is a new way to get clued in on the 360+ courses on offer, ranging from trades and health to IT and hospitality. The message is to: ‘choose your own adventure’ – and we’ve caught up with Matt Voight, Box Hill Institute’s Head of Music and Creative, to find out more about what that means.
“Winter Discovery Nights is about giving prospective new students an opportunity to see and hear for themselves what it’s like studying at Box Hill Institute. It’s a chance to speak directly to teachers and current students about what makes the experience unique.
“The music facilities here were all purpose-built and are of a really high standard. But while it’s a huge leg-up to be learning your craft in recording and practice spaces like these – that isn’t the complete picture. Working as a creative of any kind means being collaborative and relying on your skills – so that’s what we teach.”
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For Voight, the focus is on building a complete skillset. “Teaching students to build networks, getting people to work together and building their portfolio. We see those aspects of education and training as really important pillars for those looking to have successful careers in the creative industries.”
Certificates III and IV, diplomas and bachelor’s degrees at Box Hill Institute see students studying not only the academic side of their chosen subjects, but allow them to put their newly learned skills to use in collaborative projects and even competitions.
“The big one for music students across our VET and higher education courses is the Creative Cup. We hold it twice a year, and love running it because it’s an amazing opportunity for our students to collaborate in much the same way they would out in the industry.” Voight said. “It’s generally run as a four-day, all-day and all-night kind of competition. People can enter in their own groups, or they can enter singularly, and we’ll put them in a group.
“There’s generally a theme, and students write, record and mix a song around that theme – we’ll then have fashion students who are styling the bands and taking photo shoots, and graphic students will be creating album covers and posters and promotional material. And the business students will be creating bios and a strategy for release. So, it really gives everyone an opportunity to play their role as they would in the music industry and create a project or a piece.” He explains. “It just gives people confidence and understanding on what they need to do when they enter the music industry as its future leaders.”
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Speaking on the future focus of courses at Box Hill Institute, Voight goes into some detail about how things are evolving as they look forward to 2023. “Our music courses are definitely evolving, and so too are all of our creatively geared certificates, diplomas and degrees. Design, fashion, business – every faculty at Box Hill Institute is focused on preparing their students with skills for both right now and the future of their industry.
“There’s a new Bachelor of Design that is taking the place of the original fashion degree, and it’s broken down into three distinct majors that let students specialise in their chosen area of the design industry – just like the Bachelor of Music Industry degree. It’s brilliant to see, because it lets students develop industry-relevant skills and experience in their own area of specialisation.”
The new Bachelor of Design offers students their choice of a major in Fashion Design, Fashion Enterprise, or Digital Technologies. It’s a flexible and innovative approach that sees students given the opportunity to build out their skillset and create unique opportunities for themselves in the fashion and design industries.
Like music students at the Institute, bachelor’s students in fashion and design are given the opportunity to take on capstone-style projects in the final year of their degree – putting their skills to the test in industry placements, and responding to live industry briefs.
The learning style at Box Hill Institute prepares students spectacularly well for these design industry placements by enabling them to develop their skills using the latest design technologies in a collaborative environment that mirrors real industry work. We’re told that many students find themselves being offered roles in the organisations they do their internships with, having created opportunities for themselves with their unique skillsets and new industry connections.
“Flexibility and skills-wise, it’s a bit like what we’re doing in our Bachelor of Music Industry – where we have six majors; Audio Production, Music Production, Music Business, Composition, Songwriting, and Performance.” Students are encouraged to make choices along the way that enhance their skills to complement what they want to achieve. “You could be a performer and comfortable with your performance skills but want to enhance your songwriting and music business skills,” Voight said. “So you might enrol as a major in Songwriting, do an elective block of Music Business, but then also do an elective block of Performance. You can sort of do it all.”
The beauty of what Box Hill Institute offers is the versatile approach they take to careers in the world of music, allowing students to explore a number of different electives that work hand-in-hand with their chosen major. It’s effectively a ‘choose your own adventure’ model – just like the free experiences offered on the 23rd and 25th of August at their Winter Discovery Nights event.
Find out more on the Box Hill Institute website and register for Winter Discovery Nights today.
This article was made in partnership with Box Hill Institute.
