Acclaimed cellist and singer Ayanna Witter-Johnson, top, best known for collaborations with Anoushka Shankar is newly announced as an ambassador and trustee for the award-winning music education charity the London Music Fund (patron: the Mayor of London) founded in 2011 and whose trustees also include Simon Cowell, Nicola Benedetti CBE and jazz saxophonist TV presenter YolanDa Brown.

The charity's mission is officially stated as aiming ''to transform under-served communities by enabling children to access high-quality music education.''

Ayanna, who very memorably appeared with Cleveland Watkiss for Cleveland's London Jazz Festival 60th birthday show in 2019, joins young musicians at the next workshop in the Royal Academy of Music on Sunday 3 July to celebrate the graduation of the 2018 cohort as they reach the end of their four years on the London Music Fund-backed programme.

"As a Londoner myself, I fully understand the importance of supporting young musicians in the capital on their musical journey,'' Ayanna says. Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor of London for Culture and the Creative Industries adds that she feels that the musician ''will be a brilliant role model and inspiration to young musicians across the capital."