I often feel like I could have studied at Cambridge three or four times over and not had time to try everything I discovered there. While I arrived wanting to live and breathe music (and indeed, with five evenings a week as a choral volunteer, some would say I managed that for all three years!), over the course of my time there I enjoyed discovering other worlds as well. In my second year I stayed up late writing reviews and articles for various student papers; and in my final year I got involved with the Footlights, producing some of their biggest shows at the ADC theatre and for the Edinburgh fringe. I even had a go at stand up comedy myself!
I knew when I graduated I wanted to work in the cultural sector but I wasn't set on music. I tried all sorts of things in my first couple of years after graduating but eventually hit upon publicity and found it really suited me. With this degree you have to go outside your comfort zone at some point, and I often picked papers not based on what I knew lots about already but what sounded cool. Picking up narrative threads, noticing the stories that disparate histories tell, and learning information from experts and digesting it in a way that you can remember yourself, were excellent groundwork for a career in PR. From organising press for everything from a Cold War bomber plane's restoration, to an immersive protest play devised by Brazilian students, to 12 of the country's most famous paintings going on tour around the country, the scope and pace of my degree training has given me the confidence to find and communicate the most interesting angle of the story. Being encouraged to share and develop ideas in supervisions was also excellent training for talking to scary journalists! Working in publicity isn't about knowing the answer to every question but just about showing excitement and passion for whatever it is you're working with.
Imogen Sebba read music at St John's College, 2012-2015. After graduating she worked in comedy production for live work, radio and television, before joining Bonnier Zaffre fiction publishers as a publicity assistant. Since then she has worked in PR and communications across the arts and culture sector, including for the Orion Orchestra, Battersea Arts Centre and Imperial War Museums. She is currently Press and PR Manager at the National Gallery, responsible for the press campaign for NG200, the Gallery's Bicentenary celebrations and programme for 2024-2025.
