Fifteen Years of the London Music Fund: Reflections from Co-founder Richard Morris
As the London Music Fund (LMF) marks its fifteenth anniversary year, Co-founder Richard Morris reflects on its origins, growth, and enduring purpose. His perspective offers both a thoughtful account of the organisation’s journey and a compelling case for the continued importance of music education.
The origins of LMF lay in the wish of the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority to encourage more young Londoners to play musical instruments. In 2011 City Hall invited Veronica Wadley, now Baroness Fleet, then Chair of Arts Council London, and Richard Morris to create an independent charity to raise philanthropic funds to support this objective. The Fund was originally named “The Mayor of London’s Fund for Young Musicians”, but subsequently changed its name to LMF.
Foundations and Early Vision
Richard Morris’s vision for the London Music Fund stemmed from nearly two decades working in music education, including his tenure as CEO of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and a period as Chair of the Music Education Council.
“When I retired from ABRSM at the end of 2009, I had been working in music education for about seventeen years,” he recalls, “so I understood the music education landscape very well, especially as regards instrumental tuition. I saw that there was a pronounced funding gap in the middle ground between the end of young people’s first musical experiences and their later progression to high levels of musical attainment.”
While both first access schemes and advanced learning opportunities were well supported, he identified that the crucial intermediate stage lacked adequate provision. “There was widespread demand for instrumental tuition to take pupils forward from the end of first access, but with insufficient public funding to meet this need. The London Music Fund’s programmes were designed to address that gap.”
“At independent schools almost exactly 50 percent of pupils were receiving sustained, progressive, one to one, weekly instrumental tuition, while the equivalent proportion in the state sector was about 8 percent. It struck me as a significant imbalance that, depending on their circumstances, some young people were over six times more likely to receive this crucial support at such an important stage in their development.” The Fund’s focus, Morris explains, was therefore on extending musical opportunity more widely across London, especially to children from low-income families.
This in turn informed the structure of the Fund’s programmes. “Proper learning of a musical instrument requires sustained, progressive tuition over many years. This is what led to the Junior Scholarship Programme, which guarantees fouryear scholarships to support progression throughout the period between the end of first access and the achievement of musical competence. Importantly, these four years span the transition from primary to secondary school when dropout rates are higher than normal.
Equally important was ensuring that young people could engage with high standards of musical practice. “A tenet of the London Music Fund is that young people should be enriched by exposure to music at the highest level,” Morris says. Thus the Fund encourages and funds partnerships between music educators and leading musicians, orchestras and professional ensembles. “Young people would work with world-class musicians through observation, classes, joint performance, and composition, and have real experience of music of the highest artistic calibre.”
Alongside this, collaboration was a fundamental principle. “We wanted young people to be learning and performing together, so there was a great emphasis on group music-making. Teamwork is at the heart of musical performance, listening to each other, and learning from one another, as well as the enjoyment of the ensemble for both performers and audience.”
Finally, the Fund was built in close partnership with all London Boroughs’ Music Services, recognising the music educational provision already in place across the capital. “We did not want to replicate this pre-existing system, so it was vital that we would work in partnership with Music Services instead.” This collaborative approach ensured that the Fund could complement and strengthen existing provision, rather than duplicate it.
These guiding principles, as Morris describes them, were central to the creation of the London Music Fund and continue to guide its work today: supporting progression beyond early musical experiences to higher levels of achievement, widening opportunity to music education, enabling sustained musical progression, and working in close partnership with London Boroughs’ Music Services.
Overcoming Early Challenges
Establishing the London Music Fund required careful planning and considerable effort. “In the setting up of any new charity there is a great deal of work involved. One must identify and appoint a Chair and Trustees, bringing together a diverse range of skills across the board. You need musicians and educators, but also accountants, lawyers, fundraisers, and communicators. They must all be dedicated to the mission of the charity and keen to promote it among their own networks. Building the board was critically important. In addition, we invited a number of top-flight musicians to become Patrons and Ambassadors for the Fund. Initially, this group included Sir Mark Elder, Imogen Cooper, Nicola Benedetti, and Steven Isserlis.”
Designing programmes in partnership with Music Services was a core undertaking, involving extensive discussion and careful alignment with the Fund’s founding principles. This work led directly to the challenge of launching the charity and securing early support, including, as Morris puts it, “persuading people that this is a very important cause and encouraging others to share in your conviction.”
Morris recalls the appointment of the first Chief Executive, Ginny Greenwood: “she brought a great deal of energy, fundraising experience, and a deep commitment to the mission.” Alongside this, he notes that establishing excellent working relationships with City Hall was vital in the early years.
The partnership between Morris and his Co-founder, Veronica Wadley, now Baroness Fleet, was central to the Fund’s early development: “Veronica and I were, and remain, a strong partnership, with very complementary skills and experience. My background was steeped in music education, alongside experience as a lawyer, publisher and investment banker, while Veronica, a leading journalist, former Editor of the Evening Standard and senior adviser to the Mayor, brought extensive knowledge of the arts, networks and connections. It was an effective combination, and we worked closely together to meet those challenges.”
The Progress of the Fund
Fifteen years on, Morris believes London Music Fund closely reflects its founding vision.
“All the founding principles I outlined earlier are as applicable now as they were fifteen years ago. The gap in public funding for instrumental music education endures. Governments love to trumpet that they give all children the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and to trumpet exceptional success, but there will always be a need for others to support all the learning that is required between these poles.”
Among the Fund’s many achievements, Morris highlights the enduring strength of its partnerships: “The establishment of good working relationships with Music Services continues to be of paramount importance, and those relationships remain very strong.”
He also points to the development of Playing Days as a defining milestone, an initiative driven by former Chief Executive Chrissy Kinsella: “The idea of getting young people from across London to come together for group music-making is a wonderful one. It draws on what I mentioned earlier about the importance of group performance. Playing Days are very productive, musically, educationally, and in human terms as well.”
The expansion of the Fund’s work has been equally significant: “The development of the Senior Scholarship Programme and the extension of our work into informal areas of music-making through Amplify, our partnership programme with YouTube, are important milestones.” In each case this also enabled LMF in 2025 to extend its geographical reach, taking Amplify to Liverpool and the Senior Scholarship Programme to Birmingham.
A quieter but meaningful development has been the growth in legacy giving. “People usually give money to charities through legacies only when they are confident that they are well established, secure and have stood the test of time. We are now beginning to receive some very generous legacies, which is a reflection of that confidence and, I hope, of the permanence of this vital charity.”
Advice to Young Musicians
For those beginning their musical journey, Morris offers thoughtful advice.
“Don’t expect your progress to be linear. You’ll have ups and downs; you’ll reach plateaus and think you can’t get any further. So be persistent. If you enjoy playing and continue with it, you’ll find that progress often comes in leaps and bounds.”
He also stresses the importance of playing with others. “Play as much as you can in groups with your friends and other young musicians. Where people play together, music becomes a conversation. Critically, you listen, you do not just play. You learn to adjust, to harmonise, and to work together.”
A Sense of Fulfilment
Reflecting on the Fund’s growth, now having awarded over 1,000 four-year scholarships and invested more than £5 million in music education, Morris expresses a deep sense of fulfilment.
“I feel very happy that we have managed to provide sustained, life-changing opportunities to a large number of young people, who otherwise would not have been able to develop their creative talent. This achievement is due to the collaborative efforts of many people devoted to our mission, including the outstanding LMF executive team, trustees and expert members of our Music Education Committee, as well as innumerable musicians and music teachers.”
He pays special tribute to Baroness Fleet: “I feel enormous respect and friendship for my Co-founder and Chair, Veronica Wadley, whose dedication and enthusiasm have energised innumerable others to support our programmes, because without that support the Fund would not exist.”
Rewarding Moments
Among the many rewarding moments of the past fifteen years, Morris highlights witnessing the development of LMF Junior Scholars over time.
“Seeing our Junior Scholars progress over the four years is a very special pleasure; not only as musicians, but also as collaborators, as human beings, and their growth in confidence as young people.”
Conversations with families have also left a lasting impression on Morris. “I have found talking to parents, carers and guardians at events immensely rewarding, hearing from them how our scholarships have impacted the young people in their care. They often speak not only about musical progress, but about their growth in self-confidence, sociability, self-discipline and concentration. They also describe the positive effects on family life and their wider community. That is extremely rewarding.”
Looking to the Future
Looking ahead, Morris hopes to see the London Music Fund continue as a permanent feature of music education in London, while extending its reach to other major UK cities.
“The founding principles of the London Music Fund have proved their validity and ought to be retained and implemented as widely as possible. I would like to see us hold fast to our established programmes over the next fifteen years but also be fleet-footed in taking up opportunities to extend them, whether geographically, in musical focus, or through the development of new initiatives.”
The Enduring Importance of Music Education
For Morris, the importance of music education remains clear and compelling.
“The learning and playing of musical instruments draws upon and enhances an unusually wide range of human attributes, including intelligence, self-discipline, precision, dexterity, coordination, concentration, creativity, listening and teamwork. More important still, it unites the rational and emotional faculties that we all have as human beings, nurturing young people into becoming balanced, well-rounded individuals. For this reason, giving young people the chance to engage with music is vital.”
While only a small proportion of students will pursue music professionally, Morris emphasises its broader value: “Every young person, however long or short their learning pathway, will gain lifelong benefits from developing these attributes.”
Morris also reflects briefly on the challenging world in which young people are growing up. “The impact of artificial intelligence on all our lives is difficult to gauge at present, but it may well absorb many purely rational occupations. So it is now all the more important that young people develop their creative and emotional capacities alongside intellectual learning.” In an increasingly digital and, at times, socially isolating environment, he suggests that opportunities for shared, conversational and creative activity are more important than ever.
In this context, Morris sees music education as essential rather than supplementary. It remains, he concludes, a powerful means of developing the whole person, and a cornerstone of a balanced education.