Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts to Hold U.S. Auditions in Austin; Internationally Acclaimed School Was Co-Founded By Paul McCartney

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts to Hold U.S. Auditions in Austin; Internationally Acclaimed School Was Co-Founded By Paul McCartney AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) has announced plans to hold U.S. auditions in Austin on April 9, 2005. The highly regarded performing arts college rarely holds auditions in the United States, so this event will provide an opportunity for students from throughout the U.S. to audition for the prestigious school without the expense of traveling to Liverpool. The auditions will be held on Saturday, April 9th, at 501 Post/501 Audio located at 501 North IH 35 in Austin, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. LIPA was co-founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty. Featherstone-Witty will be in Austin for the auditions. "LIPA provides a tremendous learning experience for many young people who want to enter the music business and other performing arts," said McCartney. "We are so pleased to offer auditions in the U.S., and are especially pleased to have them in Austin, a city where music is such an important part of the culture." LIPA opened in 1996 with nearly 190 students. Now, there are 650 students from 35 countries worldwide. (Roughly 40 come from the United States.) Students study a range of diploma and degree programs in audio engineering, technical theater, theater design, popular music, arts management, acting and dance. Music is the largest program, where students can study styles ranging from rock to rhythm & blues, production and performance. Popular Austin performer Django Walker is a graduate of LIPA. The British band "The Zutons," scheduled to play at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin in March, are also graduates of LIPA. For information about audition requirements, visit www.lipa.ac.uk or email LIPA's International Administrator, Cath Cullen, at c.cullen@lipa.ac.uk . Background on LIPA Beatles producer George Martin first introduced Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty. At the time, McCartney was looking for a way to help his hometown of Liverpool and had discovered that the 1825 building where he had attended school (then the Liverpool Institute for Boys) was in a state of decay. In the meantime, Featherstone-Witty had been excited about the 1980 film, Fame, because it inspired him to think about what training would have best prepared him for his acting career and others in the performing arts. The film gave him the idea that performing artists, while focusing on one performing skill, needed to learn the other two as well. Eventually, he honed his ideas into a blueprint for a new type of training and by 1985, he had nearly 50 artists, directors, choreographers and entrepreneurs backing him. He formed a charity called the Schools for Performing Arts Trust (SPA Trust). It was around this time that he was introduced to McCartney. As luck would have it, at about the same time, the City of Liverpool was looking into initiatives which could build on the city's reputation as a music city. Over time, plans crystallized into what later became LIPA. Contact: Meg Meo Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations 512-494-2867 or mmeo@echristianpr.com Source: Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts CONTACT: Meg Meo of Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations, +1-512-494-2867 or mmeo@echristianpr.com , for Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Web site: http://www.lipa.ac.uk/ NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos are available electronically. Contact Meg Meo. ------- Profile: International Entertainment