ACC Liverpool
Kings Dock
Liverpool Waterfront
L3 4FP
As the co-founder of LIPA in 1996, Paul has shown his continued commitment by attending every graduation ceremony since.
I was lucky
enough to attend the twenty-second LIPA graduation ceremony, held at the stunning art-deco Philharmonic Hall in 2019 and what I witnessed during the 2 hours
plus ceremony left me with even more admiration for the former member of the
Quarry Men.
For the duration of the ceremony, Paul and LIPA’s co-founder Mark Featherstone-Witty sit centre stage flanked by ‘Companions’. Unlike other British Universities, LIPA does not issue Honorary degrees. Instead, it recognises individuals in the world of art and entertainment by awarding them a ‘companionship’ for their outstanding achievement and practical contributions to students’ learning. These companions will often visit LIPA to give masterclasses in their particular field – the former Beatle has himself attended songwriting classes for the students – or to take part in question-and-answer sessions. During the service I attended several well-known faces were made a companion of LIPA including the actor, comedian and writer Stephen Fry (Blackadder, The Hobbit, Wilde), the actor Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean, Blackadder) and musician, singer-songwriter, and former Deputy Chairman of the BPI, Mike Batt (The Wombles, The Planets, ‘A Winter’s Tale’, ‘The Hunting of the Snark’) as well as some perhaps slightly less well known outside of their recognised area of expertise but without whom the performance would not be possible – Lucy Carter (lighting designer), Steve Lewis (music publisher), Sue Gill (author), Tom Pye (set and costume designer), Kenrick Sandy (choreographer) and Andrew Scheps (sound engineer).
Each new companion dons cap and gown for their induction ‘ceremony’ before they are presented on stage to Sir Paul and Mark Featherstone-Witty. They then give a speech.
