Dr Gregory Boardman

Gregory is a PhD Candidate in Music Education at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), where he began a part-time PhD in 2020 after completing an MA in Music Education in 2018. His doctoral research explores participation in instrumental music-making, examining barriers to access and the construction of meaning making across historical, dominant, and progressive models of musical learning. Gregory’s academic journey began with a BA in Music at Durham University, followed by a PhD in Music Composition at Keele University in 2003. Gregory has sustained a career as a producer of media content for young people in the UK, with work recognised through multiple British Academy of Films and TV Awards (BAFTA) nominations and awards from Broadcast, the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, and Kidscreen. His credits include leading projects for the BBC, SKY, Channel 4, Channel 5, and the British Film Institute, with titles such as Rastamouse, Apple Tree House, and As If. In 2015, Gregory co-founded the production consultancy company Three Stone Media, which has grown from a focus on screen-based content to encompass music education initiatives in collaboration with several music hubs across the UK, the English Chamber Orchestra, and The Royal Opera House in London. One such initiative, Lights Camera Score project, led and designed by Gregory, has been delivered in more than twenty-five schools across England in 2025. The project was recognised with first prize in the UNESCO ASPnet Seeds of Hope Competition. Drawing together academic inquiry and professional practice, Gregory currently leads a team of engineers and researchers in developing Sabre, a digital musical instrument created for mainstream classrooms, SEND settings, and care environments, with the aim of broadening access to music-making and fostering inclusive approaches to musical learning.

special interests

Philosophy of education, instrumental music

thesis title

Musical Meaning-making in Key Stage Two/ Primary Context

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