Trustees & Patrons
We have a Board of Trustees, chaired by David Hughes, who with a wealth of experience and commitment to music, help us run the charity effectively and fairly.
Tony Wadsworth CBE
Tony Wadsworth was Chairman and CEO of EMI Music UK & Ireland from 1998 to 2008.
In a 26 year career with the UK based company , he held many roles including Managing Director of the Parlophone label , a label which he relaunched in the 1990’s achieving sustained hits with artists such as Blur, Radiohead Crowded House , Pet Shop Boys , Tina Turner and Queen.
His subsequent move to running all of EMI’s UK labels saw a period of global success with artists such as Robbie Williams, Coldplay, Kylie Minogue,the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.
Having overseen the combination of the Virgin label with the UK company , recent worldwide chart profile and multi million sales have been achieved with brand new signings such as Lily Allen, KT Tunstall and Corinne Bailey Rae.
Prior to joining EMI, Tony gained a degree in Economics from Newcastle and spent the following 3 years playing in a band with his college friends. He later worked for various record labels before joining EMI.
He is currently Chairman of the BPI and Chairman of Brit Awards Ltd and on the board of the Brits Trust charity.
He is also Chairman of ‘Julie’s bicycle’ , the not-for-profit company established to find ways to reduce the carbon emissions of the UK music industry.
He is a trustee of the Music Sound Foundation , a charity devoted to improving young peoples’ access to music education , and a trustee of the EMI Archive Trust.
Tony holds the post of Visiting Professor in the music and business schools of the University of Newcastle-on-Tyne.
In March 2008 , he was awarded the prestigious `Music Week’ Strat award for outstanding contribution to the UK music industry and in 2009 was awarded the Scott Piering Award by the Radio Academy to recognise outstanding contribution to music radio.
In 2010 Tony was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of Gloucestershire and went on to be appointed Commander of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2011.
Tony lives in London with his wife and 2 children.
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