Neil Bennison (PhD English,1998, MA Contemporary Literary Studies,1990, BA English, 1989, Cartmel) retells the story of how his choice to take a year out and reflect resulted in the decision to come to Lancaster and he never looked back.

'My Lancaster story began with a sliding doors moment. Back in 1984, when studying for my A-Levels at Lewes Priory School in East Sussex, I’d selected Edinburgh as my first choice for studying English Literature, but a crisis of confidence made me decide to take a year out in 1985-1986. A few months’ reflection led me to choose Lancaster instead, persuaded by the reputation of its English and Linguistics Department.

Lancaster University also had a thriving Music Department and Music Society, a student symphony orchestra, and its own international concert series, Lancaster Concerts. As I was a keen bass trombonist, opportunities to play in ensembles and hear professional concerts were a big plus. During all my time at Lancaster I enjoyed a huge amount of music, discovering a lot of diverse repertoire and making many friends through playing in several ensembles.

Although I never freed myself completely of self-doubt, my undergraduate years were a time when I found myself academically. I developed some aptitude for linguistic disciplines such as Discourse Analysis and Pragmatics alongside core literary courses such as Victorian Literature and Shakespeare and I began to realise that I might be able to go further than a BA honours degree. Eventually, against all my expectations, I gained a first class degree in 1989 and decided to continue at Lancaster with an MA in Contemporary Literary Studies. At that time the path seemed to be leading towards a career in academia, and a distinction in my MA persuaded me to begin a PhD at Lancaster a year later, using narratological theory to explore George Eliot’s novels. Alongside my research I gained some valuable teaching experience, but as the years went by, I realised that, above all, I wanted to get into the classical music business. Here again, Lancaster University gave me a helping hand.

After a tip-off from a music student friend, I wrote to the Concerts Officer, Stella Birchall, asking if there were any opportunities with Lancaster Concerts. Astonishingly, she immediately offered me a few hours a week in the box office, selling tickets, compiling programme notes and writing press releases. Stella and the Director of Concerts, Denis McCaldin, also allowed me to develop some marketing initiatives, and I got to meet several orchestra directors and managers. My first orchestral work placement – with the BBC Philharmonic’s Education team – came about through one of those encounters.

A couple of years’ experience in the Lancaster Concerts office was pivotal in me getting my first full-time arts marketing job with the National Youth Orchestra in Bristol, in 1997. Experiencing such a vast array of astonishing musical talent still blows my mind nearly thirty years later. After the NYO I moved to Nottingham, where I made my home and spent three happy years as the Marketing Officer for Lakeside Arts Centre at the University of Nottingham. From there I went into local government, working as the Arts Marketing Manager for Nottinghamshire County Council, looking after a wide-ranging programme of events across the county.

A particular attraction of that role was working for the Nottingham Classics orchestral series at the Royal Concert Hall which, at that time, was promoted jointly by the City and County Councils. Working alongside the new Programme Director, Peter Bolton, I was responsible for the marketing and media communications for the series and over the space of three years we achieved a significant turnaround in the fortunes of the series, significantly increasing audiences and ticket income. When the Royal Concert Hall took over the promotion of Nottingham Classics in 2008, I was offered a job at the venue to develop the marketing activity, and this rapidly became a bigger role when I also took over the programming in the summer of that year.

And that’s where I’ve remained for 17 years. It’s been an amazing time, working with numerous orchestras, soloists and conductors and getting to know many of them along the way. Mine is not a high-profile job, but its unusual blend of programming and marketing has made it hugely rewarding and it’s where my biggest career achievements have been, with an expanded programme, attendances at record levels, and a real buzz about the place. I couldn’t have been more delighted, though a tad surprised, when I received the Concert Hall Manager of the Year award from the British Association of Concert Halls in 2017.

That award led to some freelance programming contracts with St David's Hall in Cardiff, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Bristol Beacon. Most recently I’ve started some consultancy for Usher Hall in Edinburgh and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, these arising because I’m finally saying goodbye to my work in Nottingham in October so I can be with my wife Deb, who works as Global Head of Psychology for Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh.

So, my sliding doors story ends with me going to the place that, nearly forty years ago, I rejected in favour of Lancaster. Edinburgh is, of course, a wonderful city with a rich cultural life, and I’m excited to get to know it, but I’ll always be indebted to Lancaster University for giving me the rich array of experiences and the self-belief that enabled me to have had such a varied and fulfilling career.