In Harmony - Sistema England gets new board members

Having received the recent news that further In Harmony - Sistema England projects are to be funded by the Department of Education and the Arts Council, the board of trustees of In Harmony - Sistema England is to have two new members. Existing board members, Julian Lloyd Webber (cellist and founder of In Harmony), Richard Hallam (former government music education advisor) and Nina Kaye (performing arts professional) are being joined by Marshall Marcus and Melanie Stoutzker.


Marshall Marcus is perhaps familiar as the former head of music at the South Bank Centre. He has been involved with Venezuala's El Sistema programme since the 1970's and currently is director of El Sistema's baroque music probramme. Melanie Stoutzker has been a consultant with Craven & Stoutzker since 2004, before that she was Head of Charitable Giving and Deputy Head of Development at the Natural History Museum. So quite a wide range of useful skills there.

With the recent announcement, the number of In Harmony - Sistema England projects goes up from two to six and the increase in the number of trustees is an interesting and positive response, bringing greater depth of experience to the board at a time when there will be pressure to deliver, and also to try to build further.

It is important to remember that In Harmony - Sistema England is a social enterprise, and not just about musical education The project aims to deliver far more than education hubs. Julian Lloyd Webber's ambitious aim is to give every child in England the opportunity, through musical excellence, of reaching their full potential and becoming a force for positive social change within their families and communities.

Further information from the In Harmony - Sistema England website.