Brian May: Masterclass #2 at BIMM Bristol

Doctor of astrophysics, activist, CBE and Queen guitar legend Brian May brought his trademark brains, eloquence and musical dedication to a second BIMM Masterclass at Bristol this month.

The impromptu session came as a surprise announcement, but it didn’t deter the 180 attendees who crammed into The Deaf Centre to hear Dr May speak, welcoming him to the stage with a deafening round of applause.

Brian May’s talk covered a huge range of topics, from his doctorate in astrophysics to his belief in animal rights to his campaign for political reform and of course, his music. He welcomed a range of intelligent questions from the assembled BIMM students, which came thick and fast – he even managed to sum up his complicated PhD thesis in under a minute!

Brian, who wrote some of Queen’s most successful hits, including ‘I Want It All’, ‘The Show Must Go On’, ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ and ‘We Will Rock You’, closed an exciting session by offering some sound career advice.

“The most important ingredient you have is the belief inside you. You have talent and as you go through life you discover what your talents are, then what you need to do is believe,” he told the audience.

“You start to fulfil your potential and the people around you start to see you fulfilling your potential and they get excited too, so they start to believe in you. So I feel belief is a massive thing and it’s about being ready. It’s about keeping your eyes open and looking to see where doors open and when you see a door open, you have to be ready.”

Sam Cartwright-Johnson, a BA1 Songwriting degree student, was in the audience:

“It was absolutely brilliant to hear the wisdom of such an incredible musician and activist promoting a morally significant future.”