Luke Christoffel
Project assistant, Academy of Pop Music Enschede
He is a musician through and through. Alongside his regular work for ArtEZ, Luke Christoffel fortunately has plenty of room to tour with artists including Jett Rebel and Danny Vera. As such, he is able to bring a lot of his own experience to his roles as general process assistant and project assistant at the Academy of Pop Music in Enschede. What does he teach students and why would he recommend a job in education to anyone? Luke is happy to tell us about it in this story.
Experience as musician
“Before the pandemic, I worked as a freelancer in the music industry. Because there wasn’t much security at that time, I started working for ArtEZ as an administrative assistant on a part-time basis. I already knew quite a few people here and I was really excited to start working with them. If you show a lot of commitment and initiative at ArtEZ, there are plenty of opportunities for you. Within two years, I progressed to being a process assistant and project assistant at the Academy of Pop Music. That means I perform two roles. This is partly because I felt I could offer students a lot more thanks to my experiences as a musician. ArtEZ gave me that opportunity."
“Working in education means working in an energetic environment in which no two days are the same.”
Involved in development
In my role as a process assistant, I have a wide-ranging involvement in the organisation, planning and structure at ArtEZ. As a project assistant, I am responsible for programming project weeks and organising the XL Masterclasses. The artists we invite for those generally come from my own network. In that sense, my musical background offers huge added value for my role. Plus I have a good understanding of what drives students, because I have been in their shoes. Although I'm not a lecturer, they often come to me with questions and to ask advice. It's great to be involved in their development in that way.
Freedom
Working in education means working in an energetic environment in which no two days are the same. I really enjoy that variety. What's more, you get to meet all kinds of different people, in a place where everyone is able to be themselves – that makes my work extra interesting and fun. On top of that, I have the good fortune that at ArtEZ I am given the time to devote to my solo career, something I have worked hard for myself. That flexibility is unique. The communication here is good and people are prepared to be accommodating, and of course it helps that a lot of guest lecturers are from the industry themselves. They know exactly what you're talking about and understand the life of a musician.
“I want to contribute even more to the development of young artists and musicians"
Valuable
At ArtEZ, you get lots of opportunities to develop yourself – I have grown a lot just in the past two years. But nothing happens by itself; you do need to create those opportunities yourself. If you ask me about my ambitions, over the coming years I want to focus even more on project work at the Academy of Pop Music. That's my world, in which I am keen to play an even bigger role in the development of young artists and musicians. Personally, I didn’t have that kind of support when I was a student, so I know how valuable it can be. You see them come in as nervous 18-year-olds and leave as fully-fledged musicians. Being able to witness that is unique to the education sector.”
Will you join us?
Can you identify yourself with the art education as valued by ArtEZ? If so, come and join our teams of support staff, academic staff or researchers.
Please find our current vacancies on this page.
