90th Anniversary and 'Aston Building' Official Opening

Sunday 23 January 2022 marked the 90th anniversary of the scheme, and publication date of the original letter to the ‘Times’ from Editha Knocker and Edith Croll asking for ‘good violins lying idle’.

On this date we held the official opening of the Aston Building, with Benslow Music President Judith Weir CBE, Master of the Queen’s Music doing the honours for the ribbon cutting. 

After the opening ceremony we had some fantastic performances from our borrowers Olivia Trezise (violin) and Apollo Premadasa (cello), accompanied by Stephen Meakins at the piano.

Further to his exceptional contributions to BMILS, Tony Aston was invited to become a Patron of the scheme. This role was graciously accepted, and a certificate of Patronage was presented to Mr. Aston by BMT/BMILS Chair, Peter Neville.