Nick is Headmaster of King’s College School in Cambridge, and helped Katharine Kent to launch Future Talent in November 2004.

Music has always been a major part of Nick’s life.  He enjoys singing and orchestral conducting and he has founded two orchestras for young musicians, one in Sussex and one in London.  In his present job he enjoys accompanying the choristers of King’s College Choir to concerts all over the world.

Nick believes strongly in the power of music to transform people’s lives from an early age.  He is keen to see Future Talent expand and blossom in order to help as many young people as possible to achieve their full musical potential.

Katharine Kent studied music for five years in Oxford after leaving school.  She has a long term and ongoing involvement with the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and was one of the initial trustees of Youth Music when it was launched 10 years ago. Katharine also has a passionate interest in Aldeburgh Music in Suffolk and the extraordinary legacy and enterprise left there by Benjamin Britten.

Having taught music at a primary school in East Hull for 13 years, Katharine saw first-hand how low parental expectations, financial instability and limited guidance combined with lack of opportunities for the musically gifted child in state education meant that countless young people were missing out on a career in music. Something had to be done! Consequently Future Talent was founded by Katharine and the charity’s Chairman Nicholas Robinson in 2004.

Duke was for more than three decades a highly successful professional flautist in London, before going into arts management in 2000.  Over the past 12 years he has been Director of Development at City of London Sinfonia, Head of External Relations at Aldeburgh Music and Director of Development with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

As a young musician, Duke benefited from first-class musical opportunities both as a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Academy of Music and as a member of the National Youth Orchestra.

This experience laid the foundations for his professional career and he values deeply his involvement with Future Talent, helping to ensure that young musicians can have the same opportunities that he had.

Charles Beer was for twenty years a partner at KPMG, specialising in taxation. He is now a consultant to KPMG and a number of other organisations.

Music has always been an important part of Charles’s life. He is a keen amateur pianist and singer, with a passion for early and baroque music. Music is also part of his family life and three of his children are musicians of considerably higher ability than he is.

He wishes that all talented children could have the same educational opportunities in music that his own children have had, and strongly believes that Future Talent can help achieve this.

Jessica is a freelance music project manager who most recently collaborated with Sir Colin Davis and Sir Nicholas Kenyon to set up the Barbican Young Orchestra, giving young children the opportunity to perform at the Barbican under the baton of Sir Colin Davis. Before undertaking this venture she worked for 11 years at the BBC running the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition, and subsequently Proms in the Park.

Jessica feels passionate about being able to offer opportunities through music to children, both in her job and through Future Talent.