Maria Winter

Please tell us about your current role

I am currently undertaking a fair few creative roles! First and foremost, I am one of the Co-Founders of Marisam Events – a female led live events company, who specialise in creating innovative, interactive live entertainment to showcase and support local musicians. We currently offer three event types: our Late ‘n’ Live music quiz, where audience members test their knowledge by answering a series of music related questions asked, hosted and performed by a live band. Secondly, we have our Late ‘n’ Live Band-Led Karaoke, where you can choose a song to sing on stage with our band. Finally, we have Platform 22 – an original music showcase for local artists.

Myself and Sam Harris (other Marisam Co-founder) are lucky enough to connect with so many local artists and creatives on a daily basis, and it’s rewarding to see audiences actively engaging with our musical events. As well as the events, we also offer a press pack which includes advice on PR, marketing and journalism for up-and-coming musicians. Our extensive experience and insight into these fields allows us to successfully guide others in the right direction – which we adore. I hope to see Marisam expand and become a national touring events service in the next couple of years.

I am also a music journalist and I write for the local arts and cultures publication NARC Magazine, alongside a London based music magazine called Public Pressure. My MA in International Multimedia Journalism at Newcastle University not only gave me the foundations to improve my writing craft, but the connections to take my career to the next level. This role compliments Marisam nicely, as I use my network established from my business to secure interviews for each publication. My main focus has always been to shine a light on the inherent creativity within the Northeast region, and that’s what I will continue to do.

Finally, I perform as part of an acoustic duo with James Hughes (also a Newcastle University alumni), gigging in and around the Northeast. We perform both original music and covers, and we recently distributed our first full album titled ‘Chapters’. It’s an honour and privilege to be able to meet so many talented people through our music, who all share similar mindsets and goals.

In what ways did your music degree at Newcastle prepare you for your current role?

Our Late ‘n’ Live music quiz concept actually came directly from Jane Nolan’s Music Enterprise module, so I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to improve my theoretical knowledge of the creative industries whilst simultaneously establishing a successful business model to focus on outside of university. Without this module, Marisam Events perhaps wouldn’t have launched, so this music degree prepared me very well for my current role(s).

My music degree enabled me to increase my confidence both as a performer and entrepreneur, which has allowed me to take on more external opportunities with ease. Lastly, I am still good friends with a lot of the people I met during that degree – most of whom are working in the creative sector too as either musicians or sound technicians etc! To now be able to provide opportunities for those people through Marisam Events is incredible, and we continue to also support other current students at the university.