Disability music charity aims to fulfil late MP Sir David Amess' Broadway dream

A disability music charity - who have been awarded The King's Award for voluntary service -has set its sights on Broadway to fulfil a dream of its late president Sir David Amess.

The Music Man Project, an international music education charity for people with learning disabilities, was founded in Southend-on-Sea in Essex 25 years ago by musician and teacher David Stanley.

Sir David, who was MP for Southend West, presided over the charity for 20 years before his death in October 2021.

The late MP, who was stabbed to death during a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, had spoken of his dream for the music charity to "conquer Broadway".

Mr Stanley, who hopes to take a group of 30 musicians to New York to perform on stage, has started a fundraising campaign to achieve Sir David's goal.

When speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Mr Stanley said "a performance on Broadway in New York would send such a strong message to the world that the UK is a leading light in accessible music education."

"And it would fulfil the dream of the late Sir David Amess, our biggest champion, and our late President."

The Music Man Project, which has 14 regional centres across the country, has performed across the UK and internationally.

In 2019, 200 of its musicians took part in a performance at the Royal Albert Hall in front of 3,000 people, in the UK's largest celebration of accessible music-making.

The charity group has also performed at the London Palladium and at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Canada in front of 20,000 people, accompanied by the Royal Air Force band.

"I knew Sir David for, gosh, 25 years. As a young musician growing up in Southend he was very supportive." Mr Stanley said.

"He learnt of my work with the Music Man Project, helping people with learning disabilities to learn and perform music, and he became our patron, and on to become our President.

"He was such a support personally, but also of the charity work I was doing. As my work grew, he was an absolute driving force behind making it as big as it has become. We owe him a lot."

He added: "The Music Man Project is about fulfilling big dreams and challenging perceptions, reversing them and making people aware that people with learning disabilities can do extraordinary things."

"The next big dream, which is what Sir David so famously announced to the audience at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019, is to perform on Broadway" says Mr Stanley.

"It would send such a message about valuing the underdog - valuing what people that re vulnerable in many ways - what they can do not what they need", says Stanley.

"And I'll be able to be on that stage and say 'there we are Sir David we did it'."

Mr Stanley hopes to raise more than £150,000 to fund their New York expedition, where the Music Man Project will perform on Broadway and deliver music workshops to schools and charities.

To find out more, visit the Music Man Project's fundraising page here: www.gofundme.com/f/music-is-magic-on-broadway