Professor Sue Miller, Course Leader for the MA in Popular Music and Culture at Leeds Beckett Universitys School of Arts, is bringing her research and professional practice directly into the classroom and onto the stage. On Thursday 18 June, her band Charanga del Norte perform at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall in what promises to be one of the most ambitious nights of live music in the city this year, with students and colleagues from Leeds School of Arts playing a central role throughout the evening. The show marks the exclusive launch of Charanga del Nortes new album Havanaise, a Serge Gainsbourg-inspired collection of original compositions, alongside new EP singles Caballo Charanguero and Pa La Escuelita and a programme of Cuban charanga classics from Havana and New York. The first set of the evening draws on Gainsbourgs Latin recordings from the 1950s and early 1960s, bringing a distinctive French flavour to the bands signature sound. Charanga del Norte are the only full charanga orchestra in the UK, performing with an authentic line-up of flute, violins, cello, piano, bass, timbales drums, congas, giro and singers. Founded by Professor Miller, who studied Cuban flute with the legendary Richard Eges of Orquesta Aragn in Havana, the group have toured the UK for more than 25 years and supported major international Cuban acts including Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club at The Bridgewater Hall and Orquesta Aragn and Changi de Guantnamo at the Barbican Victoria Park event in London. Songlines magazine has described the band as a superb UK-based salsa and charanga band, while DJ John Armstrong of Bass Clef, BBC Radio 2 and BBE Records calls them the perfect happy-shot for the heart, brain and soul. Audiences can expect an exciting night of mambo, son, chachacha, pachanga, danzn and bolero. Students and staff at the heart of the performance The City Varieties show is a genuine collaboration across Leeds School of Arts, reflecting Professor Millers commitment to connecting her professional practice with her teaching. Music Performance and Production students Izzy Tucker and Becca Hooley will join Performing Arts Lecturer Dr Adele Senior for a guest vocal spot with the band, rehearsing with Charanga del Norte the night before the performance. Behind the scenes, Marketing and Public Relations students Holly McHugh and Rudi Doughty are gaining real industry experience by supporting publicity for the event as part of their portfolio work. Students from the BA in Music Performance and Production, the MA in Popular Music and Culture and the Music Management programme, including MA student Kyra Findlator, will help run the merchandise operation on the night. The visual dimension of the evening has been developed by colleagues from Leeds School of Arts research community. Lecturer Tim Blackwell (Creative Technology/Film) is creating a Nouvelle Vague-styled short film of the performance, drawing on his PhD research and working with his Broadcast Media student Curt Pansanghan. Lecturer Ashley Dean is preparing projected animations for the show, also informed by his own doctoral research and professional practice. LBU alumnus Guillermo Davis, a Cuban dancer-turned-animator who graduated from the BA in Animation, will have his animation Chachacha del Lobo screened on the night, set to a new Charanga del Norte track from the forthcoming album. Sue said: My research and professional performance practice inform everything I do in the classroom. Having students perform alongside the band, work on the merchandise, support publicity and contribute to the film and animation is exactly the kind of integrated, real-world experience we want Leeds School of Arts students to have. This is what it means to learn from practitioners. The performance forms part of Professor Millers ongoing research into Cuban music and charanga performance practice, supported by Leeds Becketts Leeds Arts Research Cluster. Her work bridges professional performance, academic enquiry and student education, a model that will continue to develop with the launch of a new MA in Popular Music Performance in September 2026. Event details Date: Thursday 18 June 2026 Venue: Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, Swan Street, Leeds LS1 6LW Time: Doors open 7.30pm Tickets: Available via Leeds Heritage Theatres: leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/charanga-del-norte-2026/
Leeds Beckett University Business School is celebrating a double success at the 2026 Educate North Awards, after the #WECAN Programme won the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award and a Highly Commended recognition for the Student Experience Award. Also celebrating student, Charlie Allen on receiving an award nomination, recognising this as an excellent and well-deserved achievement. The awards recognise excellence and innovation across the education sector in the North of England, celebrating institutions and initiatives that are making a meaningful impact on students, communities and industry partners. The award-winning #WECAN Programme was praised by judges for its exceptional reach and sustainable, reinvestment-led model that addresses structural gender inequities in leadership and enterprise. Judges also highlighted the programmes strong regional impact and successful partnerships in widening access to development and economic opportunity for women, commending the inclusive growth, noting how #WECAN is reshaping leadership pipelines and driving long-term, systemic change. Professor George Lodorfos, Dean of Leeds Business School, says, "Winning the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award for the #WECAN Programme is a testament to the passion and commitment of everyone involved in creating opportunities, built on strong partnerships and innovative approaches to tackling socio-economic challenges across our region. To also be Highly Commended in the Student Experience category demonstrates our continued focus on supporting and empowering our students to succeed. These achievements reflect the strength of our partnerships, our values and the outstanding work taking place across the Business School. The celebrations followed a successful awards evening, with colleagues from across the Business School coming together to recognise the achievements of nominees, finalists and winners from across the sector.
Using Facebook Messengers chatbot technology, the innovative Leeds Beckett bot, allows prospective students to have an online conversation to assess their suitability for undergraduate courses that are available during university Clearing. The chatbot, available both on desktop and mobile, uses a series of menus or keywords to guide students through the Clearing process and is available 24 hours a day. The bot uses keywords that the prospective students type in the chat line to assess which courses they are interested in studying, then requests details of their qualifications and exam results, before making them a provisional offer. A chatbot is a computer programme that holds natural language conversations, mimics human conversation and reacts to spoken or written prompts. Speaking about the bot, Dougal Scaife, Head of Digital at Leeds Beckett, said: We know that our prospective students already use lots of messaging software for communicating with their friends such as Snapchat, WhatsApp as well as texting, so developing a chatbot was a natural evolution in order to engage with our prospective students in a medium thats ubiquitous, familiar, and comfortable for them. Chris Watts, Director of University Recruitment at Leeds Beckett, added: We know that prospective students are undertaking more research prior to results day and are far more clear about both their course and their prospective career path. Unsurprisingly the majority of this research takes place online, with social media forming a key part of the relationship prospective students are building with institutions prior to accepting a place. At Leeds Beckett we continue to be at the forefront of employing new technologies in meeting the needs of our prospective and current students and the launch of this chatbot to make offers to prospective students is a response to this. The bot hasnt replaced more traditional methods of communication, its merely an addition to the already excellent service we seek to provide to all prospective students. Ourphone lines will continue to be open throughout the clearing process. For more information about courses available at Leeds Beckett during Clearing please visit www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/clearing
Current students Calum Wilkinson and Gemma Bridge will be competing alongside Alumni Tom Bosworth and Laura Weightman. Olympian Laura Weightman will kick off her campaign this evening. A 1,500m runner, Laura has been training hard at Leeds Beckett University and in particular with the Universitys Head of Athletics, Andrew Henderson, for the past seven years. Ive been looking after Laura for as long as shes been in Leeds, Andrew said She has come a very long way and Im hoping she can push on after her experience from the last World Championships and perform well this year. I hope that she goes all the way in making it to the final! Rabat 💎 League 4th 4:03.07@Diamond_League #RabatDL Next 1500m .... @London2017 😄🏃🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/ufDgWEg5RU Laura Weightman (@LauraWeightman) July 17, 2017 Meanwhile, Leeds Beckett will be heavily represented in the Race Walking events with three Race Walkers competing on the final day of the Championships, Sunday 14 August. 🚶♀️🚶The Festival of Race Walks take place in the most glorious setting in London.Enjoy this 🕊 over of the Mall #BeTheNext pic.twitter.com/l9XuRyfPlN IAAF World Champs (@IAAFWorldChamps) August 3, 2017 Olympian Tom Bosworth has had a brilliant qualifying campaign having beaten the World Mile Record last month in the Muller Anniversary Games. Toms record breaking walk comes off the back of a very successful 2016 Olympic Games, where he finished 6t h, and he will be looking to improve again in the World Championships. Tom will line-up alongside current Leeds Beckett students Callum Wilkinson and Gemma Bridge. Callum and Gemma will be competing in their first ever World Championships and have taken unique routes to reach the big stage. Callum will be looking to make a name for himself at the World Championships as the current Junior Race Walking World Champion. Meanwhile, Gemma switched from long distance running to race walking 12 months ago and has not looked back since, having qualified for the Championships in spectacular fashion. Good luck to @TomBosworth @CWilko97 @LauraWeightman @glbridge1 all are competing at the @IAAFWorldChamps starting this Friday #TeamBeckett pic.twitter.com/uamnYuVfBa Carnegie Sport (@carnegiesport) July 31, 2017 Gemma won the British and English Race Walking Titles at the British Trials last month, an achievement Andrew Henderson says shouldnt be taken lightly. Gemma has come from Running to Race Walking, this has been her first full year of competing in Race Walking and it just shows how far shes come, Andrew said Shes never competed at this level before so for her to go to the World Championships in her first year is absolutely massive. All three have benefited from the expertise and coaching of Andi Drake. Andi is currently with the athletes in London and is playing a crucial role in their final preparations. Andi deserves a lot of credit for the work that has been done, he has built the Race Walking programme from scratch along with the team into a World Class programme. Mick Hill, Senior Coach (High performance Enterprise) at Leeds Beckett said. All four athletes will be heading into the Championships with high hopes but for Head of Athletics Andrew Henderson, he hopes that all will be happy with their performances, regardless of the result. The dream would certainly be for one of our four athletes to get a medal in this World Championships. That would be fantastic, Andrew said But I just want them all to finish their events and be happy with what theyve achieved and hopefully go on and compete in more Championships in the future. Good luck to all four of our athletes for the World Championships!
Rhodri Thomas, Professor of Tourism and Events Policy at Leeds Beckett and Dean of the School of Events, Tourism Hospitality Management, will speak at the Contemporary Trends in Tourism and Hospitality conference (CTTH 2017), held in Novi Sad in Serbia on 1 and 2 September. Rhodris keynote presentation is entitled New spaces in cultural tourism: a role for universities in innovation? and will explore aspects of the conference theme from the prospective contribution of universities to innovation in local or regional cultural tourism. Rhodri will begin by reviewing what is understood about the dynamics of innovation and the role external knowledge plays in commercial, non-commercial and policy innovation processes in tourism. He will then consider knowledge production undertaken by universities and examine the contribution institutions might make to innovation in cultural tourism, events and festivals. In the presentation he will also consider how the challenges to collaboration might be overcome. CTTH 2017 is an international conference exploring research in tourism, leisure, hotel management, hunting tourism, gastronomy and multidisciplinary studies such are events and meeting industry, entrepreneurship in hospitality and the creative industries. The main aim of the conference is to put emphasis on the importance of cultural and event tourism as important factors for improvement of tourism and general economic image of certain country or region. This year the working title of the conference is New Spaces in Cultural Tourism and the conference is merged with one of the most exciting festival in Novi Sad The Street Musicians Festival. Rhodri Thomas is Professor of Tourism and Events Policy and Dean of the School of Events, Tourism Hospitality Management. Originally trained as an economist, Rhodri now engages in multidisciplinary research in the context of tourism and the events sector. His particular research interests are: (a) public policy studies, especially in relation to small firms, and (b) innovation and knowledge exchange. Rhodri has acted as a 'specialist expert' on policy issues for the OECD, the European Commission and for government departments and other agencies in the UK and elsewhere. He has completed several Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant and non-grant funded projects and is a member of their Peer Review College. His Chair was, uniquely, supported by the Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) for five years.
Professor Sue Miller, Course Leader for the MA in Popular Music and Culture at Leeds Beckett Universitys School of Arts, is bringing her research and professional practice directly into the classroom and onto the stage. On Thursday 18 June, her band Charanga del Norte perform at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall in what promises to be one of the most ambitious nights of live music in the city this year, with students and colleagues from Leeds School of Arts playing a central role throughout the evening. The show marks the exclusive launch of Charanga del Nortes new album Havanaise, a Serge Gainsbourg-inspired collection of original compositions, alongside new EP singles Caballo Charanguero and Pa La Escuelita and a programme of Cuban charanga classics from Havana and New York. The first set of the evening draws on Gainsbourgs Latin recordings from the 1950s and early 1960s, bringing a distinctive French flavour to the bands signature sound. Charanga del Norte are the only full charanga orchestra in the UK, performing with an authentic line-up of flute, violins, cello, piano, bass, timbales drums, congas, giro and singers. Founded by Professor Miller, who studied Cuban flute with the legendary Richard Eges of Orquesta Aragn in Havana, the group have toured the UK for more than 25 years and supported major international Cuban acts including Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club at The Bridgewater Hall and Orquesta Aragn and Changi de Guantnamo at the Barbican Victoria Park event in London. Songlines magazine has described the band as a superb UK-based salsa and charanga band, while DJ John Armstrong of Bass Clef, BBC Radio 2 and BBE Records calls them the perfect happy-shot for the heart, brain and soul. Audiences can expect an exciting night of mambo, son, chachacha, pachanga, danzn and bolero. Students and staff at the heart of the performance The City Varieties show is a genuine collaboration across Leeds School of Arts, reflecting Professor Millers commitment to connecting her professional practice with her teaching. Music Performance and Production students Izzy Tucker and Becca Hooley will join Performing Arts Lecturer Dr Adele Senior for a guest vocal spot with the band, rehearsing with Charanga del Norte the night before the performance. Behind the scenes, Marketing and Public Relations students Holly McHugh and Rudi Doughty are gaining real industry experience by supporting publicity for the event as part of their portfolio work. Students from the BA in Music Performance and Production, the MA in Popular Music and Culture and the Music Management programme, including MA student Kyra Findlator, will help run the merchandise operation on the night. The visual dimension of the evening has been developed by colleagues from Leeds School of Arts research community. Lecturer Tim Blackwell (Creative Technology/Film) is creating a Nouvelle Vague-styled short film of the performance, drawing on his PhD research and working with his Broadcast Media student Curt Pansanghan. Lecturer Ashley Dean is preparing projected animations for the show, also informed by his own doctoral research and professional practice. LBU alumnus Guillermo Davis, a Cuban dancer-turned-animator who graduated from the BA in Animation, will have his animation Chachacha del Lobo screened on the night, set to a new Charanga del Norte track from the forthcoming album. Sue said: My research and professional performance practice inform everything I do in the classroom. Having students perform alongside the band, work on the merchandise, support publicity and contribute to the film and animation is exactly the kind of integrated, real-world experience we want Leeds School of Arts students to have. This is what it means to learn from practitioners. The performance forms part of Professor Millers ongoing research into Cuban music and charanga performance practice, supported by Leeds Becketts Leeds Arts Research Cluster. Her work bridges professional performance, academic enquiry and student education, a model that will continue to develop with the launch of a new MA in Popular Music Performance in September 2026. Event details Date: Thursday 18 June 2026 Venue: Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, Swan Street, Leeds LS1 6LW Time: Doors open 7.30pm Tickets: Available via Leeds Heritage Theatres: leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/charanga-del-norte-2026/
Leeds Beckett University Business School is celebrating a double success at the 2026 Educate North Awards, after the #WECAN Programme won the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award and a Highly Commended recognition for the Student Experience Award. Also celebrating student, Charlie Allen on receiving an award nomination, recognising this as an excellent and well-deserved achievement. The awards recognise excellence and innovation across the education sector in the North of England, celebrating institutions and initiatives that are making a meaningful impact on students, communities and industry partners. The award-winning #WECAN Programme was praised by judges for its exceptional reach and sustainable, reinvestment-led model that addresses structural gender inequities in leadership and enterprise. Judges also highlighted the programmes strong regional impact and successful partnerships in widening access to development and economic opportunity for women, commending the inclusive growth, noting how #WECAN is reshaping leadership pipelines and driving long-term, systemic change. Professor George Lodorfos, Dean of Leeds Business School, says, "Winning the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Award for the #WECAN Programme is a testament to the passion and commitment of everyone involved in creating opportunities, built on strong partnerships and innovative approaches to tackling socio-economic challenges across our region. To also be Highly Commended in the Student Experience category demonstrates our continued focus on supporting and empowering our students to succeed. These achievements reflect the strength of our partnerships, our values and the outstanding work taking place across the Business School. The celebrations followed a successful awards evening, with colleagues from across the Business School coming together to recognise the achievements of nominees, finalists and winners from across the sector.