Mayor of London's Music Reception

'Take Free' choir from the West London Free School

On Wednesday 22 July 2015, I was invited to the Mayor of London's Music Reception at City Hall. Hosted by the Mayor's Music Fund for Young Londoners, people from London's music business came together to socialise and to celebrate the vibrancy of London's music scene. There were people from all varieties of music, I travelled in the lift up to the 9th floor of City Hall with people from KoKo (the former Camden Palace), and then bumped into the head of music services in Croydon and the managing director of the London Mozart Players. It was that sort of evening.

One curiosity was that our name badges did not say what organisation we were from, so it was a glorious pick-and-mix with a number of people recognising me because I have a photo as part of my social media presence (that will learn me). I had lovely chats with people from Albion Media, the City of London Sinfonia, Live Music Now, London Youth Choir, Musiko Musika and many more.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, spoke about the vibrancy of the music scene in London, the importance of music venues (now under pressure from developers), busking and the work of the Mayor's Music Fund. And we were treated to some entertainment from 'Take Free' choir from the West London Free School.

The Mayor's Music Fund helps musically gifted children from disadvantaged backgrounds to develop their musical potential. The organisation works with London's Music Hubs and awards four-year Scholarships to provide tuition to primary school children whose parent don't have the means to fund tuition, and to fund large-scale collaborations between Music Services and professional arts organisations to provide challenging opportunities for young people.