BBC Radio 3 celebrates 30 years of the Irene Taylor Trust

Our thanks to BBC Radio 3 for running a segment about our 30th anniversary on their ‘Saturday Morning’ show on 22nd November (catch up via BBC Sounds here) and a shout out to the brilliant Dean and Muminah who spoke so eloquently about the positive impact taking part in our programmes Sounding Out and Making Tracks is having for them.

Artistic Director Sara told the story of how she went from being a student at Guildhall School of Music & Drama to a music teacher at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, to winning a Butler Trust award and being asked to set up the charity in memory of Irene Taylor (who had been on the awarding panel and planned to mentor Sara) by Irene’s family in 1995, to ensure that Music in Prisons continued to offer hope and opportunities for self-expression and skills development to people in prison wanting to change their lives. The programme also featured music from our Lullaby Project collaboration with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The programme is currently available to listen to on BBC Sounds – our segment starts approximately 2 hours 38 mins in – here.

So much has been achieved in memory of Irene Taylor since 1995 – we have supported thousands of people in prisons and the community. Over the years the high-quality of our work has been demonstrated with a British Composers Award, a Royal Society of Public Health Arts and Health award, a commission from PRS Foundation for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, long-term partnerships with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In March 2024 the impact of our work was celebrated by the Royal Philharmonic Society with their ‘Gamechanger’ award, made jointly to ITT and our Artist Director and founder Sara Lee. At the ceremony our work was described as “living proof of music helping society to heal.”

Join us celebrate our 30th anniversary on 28th November in person at Rich Mix or via the livestream; tickets are pay-what-you-can – book here.