The Letter That Changed Everything: A Tribute to Sir David Amess

"It's not everyday you receive a letter from a member of parliament."

Until hearing these words, my ambitions in accessible music were trapped under a glass ceiling of locality, low expectations and a lack of credibility.

The letter was written by Sir David Amess.

These words sparked the start of a journey for both The Music Man Project and for me personally. They were spoken by the General Manager of Programming at Lord Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatres and were the opening of the door that led to our debut performance at the London Palladium in 2015. That journey led to success and impact that I could never have dreamed of.

The Music Man Project was Sir David's favourite charity and he was our greatest champion. I knew Sir David for 25 years and he was a source of unyielding strength and encouragement. He shared my passion for empowering people with learning disabilities to become respected musicians in their community and for presenting them on the world's greatest stages. He believed in me and he believed in my students. He called them the “once forgotten society” and would recall how this community used to be hidden away and isolated.

Whenever we met, Sir David would always inquire about my family first. "How are your dear mother and father?" or "How is your lovely wife?" He would then proceed with, "Now David, what can I do to help you?"

With Sir David's help, The Music Man Project spread from its Southend headquarters right across the country, and I even took my service to South Africa, India, the Philippines, Nepal and America. As his Southend West constituent, I could always call upon David when I hit a brick wall - something which is very common in the world of learning disability. He worked tirelessly to secure exciting opportunities for my students and he celebrated our achievements with great pride at the House of Commons.

Most famously, at Prime Minister's Questions in 2018, he told PM Theresa May that Southend must become a City purely because The Music Man Project had broken the world record for the most number of triangles!

Sir David, who was so proud to be knighted by the Queen, was overjoyed when I received a BEM for Services to People with Special Needs in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List. Together we made dreams come true. He was therefore the obvious choice to be our President when I launched The Music Man Project as a national charity to meet growing demand from the UK and around the world.

During his tenure, Sir David witnessed my musicians perform to members of the Royal Family and celebrities, open the National Lottery’s 25th birthday TV advert, sing Christmas carols live on ITV and break a Guinness World Record. Performances at the London Marathon, the Royal College of Music, the Houses of Parliament and the Royal College of Psychiatrists are among a long list of musical achievements that few people thought possible. The Music Man Project Ambassadors had also begun their UK tour of performances and workshops to inspire other communities to start their own Music Man Projects. This was all with the passionate encouragement of Sir David Amess.

However, it was our big massed London shows which inspired Sir David the most. He watched us perform variety shows at the London Palladium and then, in 2019, he beamed with pride as we performed “Music is Magic at the Royal Albert Hall” in front of 3,000 people. It was the largest ever celebration of accessible music‑making in the UK and Sir David closed the concert with a typically rousing speech.

That special night was the fulfilment of a promise I made to a handful of people with learning disabilities 20 years earlier. Without Sir David's letter to the London Palladium, it would never have happened.

Then tragedy struck. On 15th October 2021, four years to the day after our second London Palladium performance, David was murdered by an Islamic Extremist.

Since Sir David's death, a light has been shone on our work like never before thanks to the unyielding belief and support of Dame Penny Mordaunt, Chris Lewis and Samuel Dean of the TEAM LEWIS Foundation. This blog is a proud record of the remarkable achievements of my musicians. They have literally spread the magic of The Music Man Project across the world. They deserve all the awards, plaudits and life‑changing opportunities that come their way.

Sir David's biggest wish was for The Music Man Project to take the stage on Broadway, New York, as he so joyfully declared at our 2019 Royal Albert Hall debut. We will fulfil this dream on October 7th, 2026, with Sir David watching over us.

From the best seat in the house, I imagine him saying, “Onwards and upwards! You can do it!” He will of course be slightly late because he'll be attending three other events in heaven on the same evening! At the end of the concert he will push the microphone away and take out his mega-phone. He begin with his trademake boom, "Ladies and Gentlemen..." His applause will be louder and slower than everyone else.

It's funny the details you remember when someone's gone.

If anything good can come out of such an awful tragedy, then it must be that people with learning disabilities, historically overlooked and ignored, will perform on Broadway in Sir David's memory. In doing so, they will show what they can do, rather than what they need. They will raise awareness and understanding. They will fulfil their potential, regardless of the obstacles. They will prove anything is possible. They will send the greatest message of hope to the world.

What better tribute could there be to Sir David Amess, who believed in everyone and simply tried to help us all?

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