012023
Visiting Music Teacher of the Year
Classic FM & ABRSM Music Teacher of the Year Awards
Press, media & speaking
Everything you need, in one place.
A biography to copy, facts to check, photographs to download and the subjects Nimai speaks on. For anything else, one message reaches him directly.
Short biography
Nimai Walcott is a London-based educator, musician, author and filmmaker. He has directed London MADA (London Music and Dance Academy) since 2012, when he took over the academy his father founded and rebuilt it from the ground up, and was named Classic FM & ABRSM Visiting Music Teacher of the Year in 2023, an award presented at the Royal Albert Hall. A performer since Carmen Jones at the Old Vic in 1991, and a multi-instrumentalist with over twenty-five years of teaching experience across piano, strings, woodwind, guitar and drums, as well as music theory, LAMDA speech and drama and chess, he was signed to the US label Compound Entertainment (Def Jam Records) in 2005 and has released albums and singles under his own name since 2011, and writes on the psychology of learning. His academic background in biochemistry and microbiology, and a long interest in philosophy and spirituality, inform a body of work that treats education, creativity and human potential as one subject.
Please reproduce without alteration. A longer biography is on the About page.
Key facts
- Director of London MADA (London Music and Dance Academy) since 2012, when he took over the academy his father founded and rebuilt it from the ground up with a full rebrand
- Classic FM & ABRSM Visiting Music Teacher of the Year, 2023 (presented at the Royal Albert Hall)
- Trained at the New Harlequin Theatre School; worked in radio, television and media advertising, then, aged seven, performed in Carmen Jones at the Old Vic (1991) with Patti Boulaye and Gary Wilmot
- Teaching since 2000, piano first, now piano, violin, cello, flute, guitar, clarinet and drums, plus music theory, LAMDA and chess
- Teaches from first lessons to diploma level across ABRSM, Rockschool and LAMDA examinations
- Used the 2023 award prize to add cellos, violas and clarinets to the academy and to start an orchestral club, a chamber ensemble, a drama class and a musical chess club (Classic FM, 2024)
- Signed to the US label Compound Entertainment (Def Jam Records) in 2005
- Recording artist: albums Memoirs of Time (2020) and Marching To The Spotlight (2026), with singles released under his own name since 2011
- Writer on the psychology of learning; author of the Learn How To Learn philosophy
- Academic background in biochemistry and microbiology
- Based in London, United Kingdom
Photographs
Approved images
High-resolution files for editorial use alongside coverage of Nimai's work. Please do not crop or alter.
Speaking
Talks, workshops and conversations
Nimai speaks about learning, music education and the running of a creative organisation, from school halls to conference stages.
Formats
- Keynotes and conference talks
- School assemblies, INSET days and staff training
- Workshops and masterclasses for students and teachers
- Podcasts, radio and panel discussions
- 01
Learn how to learn
Why process beats talent, what more than twenty-five years of music lessons reveal about how people acquire skill, and how to apply it to anything.
- 02
Music as a laboratory for the mind
Discipline, memory, courage and expression can all be heard and taught. What the practice room knows that the classroom often forgets.
- 03
Building an academy from a single lesson
Leading London MADA: partnerships with schools, teaching teams, and the systems that let an educator scale without losing the room.
- 04
Teachers, technology and artificial intelligence
A working musician-teacher's account of using new tools without surrendering judgement, taste or the relationship with the student.
Interviews and enquiries
One message reaches Nimai directly.
Media requests are answered personally. Enquiries about the academy, lessons and school partnerships go to London MADA.
