WCoMC at the beating heart of Soho...
...demanding pro bono work at Ronnie Scotts...
If your “day job” overlaps with your personal passions and interests, then you’re one lucky consultant. As a lover of all kinds of music and (very) amateur musician, I’ve been in that fortunate situation for the past year with my part-time pro bono work for a local music charity, World Heart Beat Music Academy.
The end of May saw The Master, The Mistress, and the Head of the Pro Bono Committee join me for an afternoon of jazz played by World Heart Beat students in the UK’s most famous jazz venue, Ronnie Scott’s.
I had invited them along as I thought it would be good to get a flavour of one of the charities WCoMC has been supporting and, more importantly, it was the day of a highly significant announcement about future developments.
A bit of background: World Heart Beat runs a music academy in Wandsworth, south-west London and it was set up a few years ago by Sahana Gero, at that time a freelance music teacher in the area. World Heart Beat’s vision is to give children and young people the opportunity to receive a top-class music education. Whatever their background, World Heart Beat students are taught, mentored and nurtured by top industry professionals and the best musicians, themselves inspired to pass on their knowledge – with no financial constraints.
Last year, World Heart Beat Music Academy was selected from a field of 42 organisations to provide a “cultural anchor” in the Nine Elms area of south-west London. We’ll be based in a dynamic new creative space at the Embassy Gardens development – opposite the new US Embassy – and this will include a fully-equipped 110-seat auditorium and state-of-the-art educational, recording and broadcasting facilities.
My role in the bid was to come up with the business plan which included marketing and a sample cultural programme, and as we start to build and fit out the centre I’ll be providing change management support and, no doubt, a bit of customer experience input. Luckily none of my rudimentary guitar or vocal talents will be required.
But back to Ronnie Scotts… World Heart Beat teaches all kinds of music from tabla to classical strings but it was jazz that was on display at Ronnie’s. From a New Orleans-style marching band at the start to some highly accomplished vocals at the close, this was a highly impressive display from some young people who looked thoroughly at home on the stage. In the interval we were able to announce the new development and, just as importantly, launch a capital fundraising campaign to fit out and kit out the building.
It could be that some of the talented youngsters we saw will find their way into a future Company event, so look out for that. In the meantime if you’re interested in supporting the charity in any way or would like to find out more, please take a look at the website www.worldheartbeat.org/embassygardens or get in touch with me directly.
Nick Bush, Freeman
nick@openchord.co.uk
Mob: 07912 116450