Drummer Paul Lennox is serious about his music and he's got the degree to prove it.

The 22-year-old former Warwick Academy student has just been awarded a bachelor of arts in professional musicianship from the Brighton Institute of Modern Music in England (BIMM).

His upper second-class degree makes him one of the course's highest scoring graduates this year and he is now hoping his efforts during the three-year course will help to propel him into a professional drumming career.

"I want to do a whole bunch of stuff," he told The Royal Gazette. "I want to do session drumming and I'm in a couple of bands. There's also the possibility of teaching."

Mr. Lennox said former Warwick Academy music head and saxophonist Shine Hayward inspired him as a schoolboy to take his music seriously. "He was a great guy, a lovely guy, and he also opened my eyes to how much fun it can be playing live.

"Sometimes if he didn't have a drummer for gigs he'd call me up. I'd be really nervous. He kind of broke me into playing live and having a professional attitude toward music."

The percussionist, who played in the Warwick Academy orchestra and concert band and Bermuda Youth Jazz Ensemble, is also grateful for the help he received from his tutors at the Drum and Percussion Institute in Hamilton and to his father, Warwick headmaster Robert Lennox, for encouraging him to pursue his dream.

"Dad was the one who told me about Brighton," he said. "I didn't have a clue that places like that existed."

At BIMM, Mr. Lennox was taught by Adam Bushell, one of the UK's foremost session drummers, who has played and toured with artists including Sheryl Crow and Faithless.

His father said: "I started life trying to be a professional footballer for Derby County and didn't make it so I realise that there is something to be said for letting guys follow a dream, especially if they have got a bit of talent. I'm proud really because it's his absolute passion."