Meet David Stanley, BEM (Music, 2001) – the Founder & CEO of The Music Man Project

David Stanley BEM, who is the Founder & CEO of The Music Man Project. His varied career includes being a disability rights campaigner, musical director, teacher, composer and concert producer.

David graduated with a Master’s Degree in Music from King’s in 2001. He has won a King’s Distinguished Alumni Awards in 2021 for demonstrating outstanding achievement in the arts and culture sector, specifically his commitment to improving disability rights in the music industry. Apart from that, he has won numerous awards, including the Freeman of the City of Southend-on-Sea (2023), Medalist of the Order of the British Empire for Services to People with Special Needs (BEM), Trailblazer of Championing Disability Rights Motability Magazine (2023) and many more.

David’s unique pedagogical style is the basis of PhD research at the Royal College of Music , and he had presented seminars at Berklee College’s ABLE Assembly in Boston, the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the UK’s National Music Mark Conference. David also delivered a spotlight session at the Inclusive and Supportive Education Conference (ISEC21), hosted by the University College of London Centre for Inclusive Education and the National Association of Special Educational Needs. 

I wish people knew how rewarding working in this field can be. I have the best job in the world and work with the best people.

David Stanley BEM MMus BMus PGCE NPQH CF FRSA

The Music Man Project

The Music Man Project is a national charity to meet growing national and international demand for his accessible music service. This not only for the learning-disabled community, but for other vulnerable groups.

I am an advocate for the potential of people who typically cannot bring about change themselves, given the nature of their disabilities. 

David Stanley BEM MMus BMus PGCE NPQH CF FRSA

The Music Man Project has:

• performed twice at the London Palladium
• broken a Guinness world record
• performed to members of the Royal family
• opened a national TV advert
• toured the UK and overseas including in the Philippines, South Africa, India and Nepal

David campaigns for the equal rights of disabled people to perform at prestigious and aspirational venues in the world. One of his major work is the Music Man Project Global Ambassadors , which have delivered performance workshops to 15,000 mainstream Primary School children, in order to promote understanding and acceptance of disability diversity to future generations.

Since 2017, he has produced a range of resources to support students, families, schools and other professionals, such as the self-published Music Man Project Songbook and extensive online audio and visual content. The materials are available for free at The Music Man Project.

David presents The Music Man Project Podcast and records his own journey in his blog. He also hosts a monthly radio show on Chelmsford Community Radio which showcases the achievements of musicians with learning disabilities. David has released two albums of his music, including the charity single “Music is Magic” which became a first best seller on Amazon’s Broadway song chart.

Sources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pallikheni