Reflections from our Outgoing CEO
Chrissy Kinsella reflects on the last 14 years
When I joined the London Music Fund in 2012, I could never have imagined the journey that lay ahead. What began as a small charity with a big idea has grown into a vibrant, city-wide community of young musicians, partners, supporters and alumni whose achievements continue to inspire.
As LMF looks towards its 15th Anniversary, and as I prepare to step down , I’ve been looking back on some of the moments that shaped my time here; the milestones and the people, and most importantly, the young musicians.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson with Ambassadors Chi Chi Nwanoku, MIlos, Julian Bliss and young musicians at the launch of MFYM in 2011
2012-2016 - The Early Years
Launched in 2011, by Boris Johnson, co-founded by Baroness Fleet, Veronica Wadley CBE and Richard Morris, I joined founder CEO Ginny Greenwood in the office at City Hall in February 2012, originally as General Manager.
2012 was an incredibly exciting time to be in London - the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee were on the horizon, and the Mayor of London’s Fund for Young Musicians was already having an impact across the city, having awarded its first 100 Scholarships that January,
One of the very first events I was involved in was the Mayor’s Jubilee Band for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant. Ginny had commissioned A Celebration from LMF Ambassador and Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman OBE, for young brass players from London’s music services and junior conservatoires, conducted by Spencer Down.
It was a spectacular day, and also one of the wettest of my life! But sailing past the Queen, hearing this wonderful piece, I knew that the Mayor’s Fund for Young Musicians was going to have a real impact on music education in our city.
2012 Scholars Awards
In September, we welcomed our second cohort of Scholars. and added a musical element to Awards Day, working with Lincoln Abbotts and the ABRSM team, a successful partnership that continues to this day.
A Trip to the LSO
in 2013 we were delighted to invite a small group of our first two cohorts of Scholars to a concert by the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican, and met some of the wonderful players backstage. It was one of the first moments when I could really see how inspiring it was for Scholars to meet professional musicians, and the LSO players (pictured here Principal Flute Gareth Davies and Tom Goodman, Double Bass, among others) were so generous with their time.
This picture is especially poignant as it features three former Scholars we are still in touch with who are all doing wonderful things - James Lynch (2011 Scholar), violin, is now working in the City and playing with the Odyssey Orchestra, Louis Lodder, (2011 Scholar), originally French Horn, now studying Jazz Piano and Composition at Trinity Laban, and Charles Campbell-Peek (2012 Scholar) , Double Bass, in his final year at the Royal Academy of Music, and being offered trial positions with many of the UK’s finest orchestras - including the LSO! All three regularly return to support LMF events. I hope they’ll forgive me for this picture…
By 2014, our Scholar community had grown significantly to over 250, and I was given the challenge of bringing everyone together for a creative music-making day – our first Playing Day. Working with Sarah Freestone from the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, our Scholars created and performed a fantastic piece in the Clore Ballroom to friends and family.
In 2015, we celebrated the graduation of our very first cohort at City Hall. We commissioned a piece from Danyal Dhondy for the occasion and realised just how meaningful it was to put a formal marker on the end of a four-year musical journey.
The London Music Awards, 2014 and 2015
In 2014 and 2015, we hosted the London Music Awards at the Roundhouse - a huge star-studded event, celebrating everything excellent about music in London. Genres including classical, pop, rock and musical theatre were celebrated, along with our Scholars and projects, and newcomers like Natalie Shay alongside London Legends Andrew Lloyd Webber, Soul II Soul and Ray Davies, this event helped put the Mayor’s Music Fund on the map.
2016-2020: A New Patron, A New Name and A New Role
From the London Music Awards at the Roundhouse, to breakfasts high above City Hall, to elegant lunches with our Patron, Sadiq Khan, we found new ways to share our story with Londoners. More recently, our intimate concerts at venues like 22 Mansfield Street and The Mercers’ Hall have become real highlights. A pivotal moment in my journey came in 2016, when I stepped into the role of Chief Executive, joined in the office by Executive Assistant, Henrietta Temple. Still only a team of two, we continued to grow and develop the charity, supported by our committed and passionate Trustees.
That same year we were delighted to welcome Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London and Patron of the charity. Our Scholarship awards continued, alongside imaginative partnerships with professional arts organisations. We rebranded as the London Music Fund in 2017, a name which allowed us to focus more on the city and the young people we support.
2019 brought the development of our first new programme, and one of the ideas I’m proudest of - Amplify London. We were thrilled to secure the backing of Google and YouTube, and since launching Amplify in 2020 we have supported over thirty grassroots projects, expanding to Liverpool in 2025, our first work outside London.
Sadly in 2020, the pandemic changed everything overnight. But, being small and flexible (by now a team of 2.5!) we launched our Scholars at Home series, sharing vidoes of our young musicians with supporters, and when we discovered many lacked digital access, we raised funds to buy 50 tablets for those most in need.
2021-present: Our 10th Anniversary and Beyond
One of my favourite memories (and there are many!) is our 10th Anniversary Concert in February 2022. This gala, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and hosted by YolanDa Brown, brought together Ambassadors, Partnerships, Amplify projects, and Scholars and Graduates from every cohort. The finale - a newly arranged orchestral version of Rachel Portman’s Celebration (from the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee) featuring representatives from every London borough and each Scholar cohort was a fitting end to a fantastic evening. We were also thrilled to be announced winner of ‘Outstanding Musical Initiative’ at the 2021 Music and Drama Education Awards - a wonderful start to our anniversary year!
Our work continued to grow and develop - In 2021, I completed a Masters in Music Education at the IoE, with my final thesis being an in-depth statistical analysis of 300 graduates from LMF’s Scholarship programme. The results were enlightening, and led directly into our strategic planning.
With support in the office now from Georgina and Dorothy, our programmes developed further and we launched our first ever Senior Scholar cohort in 2022, with support from John Studzinski, working with young musicians aged 16-18, many of whom had been through LMF’s junior programme. Now in partnership with the KM Foundation, this programme supports 25 young musicians each year, including five from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire from 2025. Our deep relationships with London’s music services have been central to everything we do, from delivering our Scholarships, to ambitious, creative and inspiring projects - from 2021, our work with the Karlsson Játiva Charitable Foundation added new strength and reach, officially becoming the sponsor of our Partnerships Fund.
2023 was another exciting year - we said goodbye to Dorothy and Georgina who moved on to new roles in the arts world, and welcomed Kate Kelly and Sophie Mullender to the team. Our programmes, Playing Days, and fundraising events continued to grow, and who could forget the incredible lunch hosted by Ambassador Simon Cowell and his partner Lauren Silverman, which resulted in 13 pages of coverage in Hello! magazine, as well as an advert on ITV2 and ITVX that he and his team facilitated for us, in 2025.
The Future
As LMF looks to its 15th anniversary in 2026, with a brilliant team (including recent addition Beatrice Reid), I couldn’t be prouder of what we have achieved: over 1000 Scholarships awarded, 100 inspiring and ambitious projects supported, 40 Senior Scholarships, and over £5m in funding distributed directly to support music education. There are too many people to thank: former colleagues Ginny, Paul, Emma, Laura, Hadiya, Clare, Henrietta, Dorothy, Georgina, Isabella, and Tim, all Trustees, past and present, our co-founders Richard Morris and Veronica Wadley for everything they continue to do to support LMF, our wonderful Ambassaors, the Mayor of London and the team at the GLA in the Culture and Creative Industries Unit, to all music services, teachers and mentors, but most importantly, to every one of our young musicians - you have made this job an absolute privilege.
As I hand over the not-so-metaphorical baton to Chris Stones, I know that LMF will continue to thrive, and I look forward to seeing where it goes next!
Thank you for being here.
Chrissy Kinsella
Chief Executive, London Music Fund (2016-2026)