Amy Sears is a professional vocalist specialising in pop and jazz. She began her career in 2014 and has been working full-time as a musician for the past three years. Amy holds an MA in Learning & Teaching in Creative Industries and occasionally teaches at BIMM London.
During her MA, she focused on developing self-confidence, culminating in a dissertation that combined self-reflection with critical analysis. This journey deepened her self-understanding, enhanced her teaching skills, and sparked an interest in coaching. Currently, Amy is focused on performance, working with commercial choirs and performing in London, while continuing to teach on a smaller scale.
Hi Amy, please can you introduce yourself?
My name is Amy Sears and I am a professional vocalist that specialises in pop and jazz vocals. I’ve been working professionally as a singer since 2014 and it has become my full-time work for the last three years. Alongside singing, I teach privately from home as well as having an affiliation with BIMM London. I work for them whenever they need cover right now as this suits my current lifestyle and career goals.
Please sum up your final project in a few sentences.
I have struggled my whole life with confidence and self-worth. This was the theme throughout my entire MA which led to me writing my dissertation How To Develop Self-Confidence. It was an autoethnography using qualitative research methods to explore the constructs of self-confidence, using self-reflection and critical analysis to develop an understanding and grow levels of self-confidence.
What have you learned during your MA studies? Anything that has surprised you?
The biggest thing I learnt from doing this MA was that I was capable and that I am academic, it just takes me a little longer to get from A-B when comparing myself to others (which I have also learnt not to do). I found out that I had an interest in the coaching side of things, and it taught me to look inwards on a much deeper level than I ever have before. This has played a role in improving my private teaching massively as well as working and communicating with people in everyday life.
What are you doing now?
Right now, I am focusing more on the performance side of my career rather than teaching. I am working with commercial choirs, performing at residencies around London, playing in party/jazz bands whilst doing a small amount of private teaching from home.
How has the experience you picked up during the MA informed what you’re doing?
I know that teaching will become more of a prominent part in my life in the future. Doing this MA has helped me get to a point where I can confidently say that I am a GOOD teacher, and I never thought I’d truly believe that.
If you’re interested in studying an MA with us, you can find out more, here.
