YolanDa Brown was awarded an OBE for services to music, music education and broadcasting in the 2023 New Year Honours list.
Join YolanDa at PizzaExpress Holborn for a special concert to celebrate, with her delicious fusion of reggae, jazz and soul.
For some, world-wide touring and critically acclaimed albums would be satisfaction enough. Not for YolanDa Brown, the double MOBO Award Winner has toured with The Temptations, Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, Billy Ocean and collaborated with artists such as Dave Stewart from Eurythmics, Snarky Puppy’s Bill Laurance, Kelly Jones from Stereophonics and Rick Astley.
She is currently composing music for the iconic Sesame Street and an animated series called Bea's Block. In July 2022, YolanDa was appointed Chair of BPI - the representative voice for record labels in the UK. BPI organises The BRIT Awards, The Mercury Prize. The Lord Lieutenant of Greater London appointed YolanDa as a Deputy Lieutenant in October 2022.
She is a BAFTA nominated broadcaster - working across TV and Radio, including her eponymous series for CBeebies, "YolanDa’s Band Jam”, which recently won the Royal Television Society Awards as Best Children’s Programme. She presents BBC Young Jazz Musician of the year, Songs of Praise and appeared on TV shows including Celebrity Mastermind, Portrait artist of the year, House of Games, The Hitlist, Celebrity Antiques Road trip and loads more. On BBC Radio 4, she co presents Loose Ends with Clive Anderson and across shows on BBC Radio 2 and presents “YolanDa Brown on Saturday” on Jazz FM.
A champion for the importance of music education, YolanDa is Chair of Youth Music (one of the largest music education charities in the UK) and an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and London Music Fund. Brown was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University of East London. In 2021, she was invited by the Government and the Department for Education to sit on the advisory panel of the National Plan for Music Education. November 2022 saw YolanDa awarded the Music Week – Women in Music “Music Champion Award”.
Join YolanDa Brown for a fantastic evening of sunshine music.
