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David Stanley BEM MMUS BMUS NPQH PGCE CF FRSA

David is a disability rights campaigner, musical director, teacher, composer and the founder and CEO of The Music Man Project, a multi award-winning international music education service for people with disabilities. David studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, King’s College London, the Royal Academy of Music (piano) and the Institute of Education (UCL). He holds a Master’s Degree in Musical Analysis, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education and the National Professional Qualification for Secondary School Headship (NPQH).

David was awarded the Medal of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s 2021 New Year Honours List for services to people with Special Needs. He is a Churchill Fellow, Paul Harris Fellow (Rotary International) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. David was a 2020 Global Peace Ambassador for People with Disabilities and became the UK Government’s Disability and Access Ambassador for Arts and Culture in 2021. He was a member of the Advisory Panel for the new National Plan for Music Education, representing the rights of children and young people with SEND. In 2022 David’s work to improve access to music for people with learning disabilities around the world reached the United Nations in New York. In 2023 he became a Freeman of the City of Southend-on-Sea. Read more here.