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 LIPA
LIPA 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, musical theatre, filmmaking, theatre production, design, sound technology and creative arts management. The aim is not only to develop individual talent, but to prepare students to collaborate across disciplines once they enter professional work.
LIPA Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
A milestone graduation
The 2026 ceremony was described by LIPA’s Principal and Chief Executive, Professor Sean McNamara, as a milestone graduation. As the institute marked its 30th anniversary, it also conferred its first LIPA degrees, giving the class of 2026 a place in the institution’s history. More than 400 students graduated, representing 28 countries including Colombia, Georgia, India, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. McNamara said the graduates were leaving as artists, innovators and leaders, equipped with the skills, vision and confidence to shape the creative and cultural industries.
McCartney honoured five creative leaders
Sir Paul McCartney awarded LIPA Companionships to five leading figures from the creative industries. The honour recognises outstanding achievement in the sector as well as a significant contribution to student learning.Among the recipients was Merseyside-born actor, writer and producer Stephen Graham, known for work including This Is England, Boardwalk Empire, Line of Duty, Boiling Point and Adolescence. Graham has received BAFTA, Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe recognition during a career that has made him one of Britain’s most respected screen actors.The other Companions were BAFTA-winning actor and writer Cathy Tyson; Paul Duhaney, artistic director of Africa Oyé; McFly founding member and Paddington: The Musical composer Tom Fletcher; and film producer Lynette Howell Taylor. Howell Taylor’s honour carried particular significance because she graduated from LIPA’s management degree in 2000 before building a career in Los Angeles, where she has produced more than 25 feature films, including ‘A Star Is Born’. In 2025, she was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
A full-circle moment
Paul McCartney (center) at LIPA graduationPhoto credit: LIPA’s website
For Howell Taylor, the ceremony was a return to the place where her professional journey began. She said LIPA gave her the foundation for her career and was the first environment in which she felt truly seen for her passion and abilities. She credited its teachers with encouraging and challenging her to explore what she could achieve.She also thanked McCartney and Featherstone-Witty for creating a creative, cross-disciplinary environment where both artists and those who enable or work with artists can thrive. Her words captured the broader purpose of LIPA: to support not only performers, but producers, managers, technicians and designers who help bring creative work to audiences.
Liverpool’s creative legacy
The institute’s growth reflects Liverpool’s continuing influence on British and international culture. From its roots in a former school associated with McCartney’s own youth, LIPA has become a training ground for students from around the world, with graduates entering music, theatre, film, television and the wider creative economy.The 2026 graduation showed how far that idea has travelled. A local institution built around collaboration has become a global community, with students from five continents celebrating together and industry leaders returning to recognise the next generation.
Looking to the next 30 years
As LIPA enters its fourth decade, the first degree awards mark both an ending and a beginning. The class of 2026 leaves with qualifications bearing the institute’s name, while the wider LIPA community continues to develop talent across performance, production, design, technology and management.For McCartney, the ceremony was another chapter in a project that began with a simple ambition: to give young creative people the training, confidence and connections they need to build sustainable careers. Thirty years on, with more than 400 graduates from 28 countries celebrating together, that ambition is being carried forward by a new generation.