Paul McCartney-backed Liverpool arts institute celebrates 400+ graduates 30 years on

Paul McCartneyPhoto credit: Wikimedia Commons Thirty years after Sir Paul McCartney helped open the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) in a former Liverpool school, the institution has reached a milestone that blends history with a new beginning. At its 2026 graduation ceremony, LIPA conferred its first LIPA degrees and celebrated more than 400 graduating students from 28 countries. The event, held on 21 July at the Liverpool Experience Campus, also honoured leading figures from film, theatre, music and arts management, with McCartney present as the institute’s Founding Patron. Read more details about it, as per LIPA's website, here:From a former school to LIPALIPA was founded by Sir Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996 in the former Liverpool Institute for Boys, the school McCartney once attended. The idea was to create a place where performers and the people who work behind the scenes could train together, reflecting the practical realities of the creative industries. That founding vision remains visible in the institute’s course structure. LIPA offers undergraduate, master’s and foundation certificate programmes in acting, dance, music, music...