Lord Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has announced new a initiative, Rock the Schools, which will involve the music impresario providing musical instruments for 20 public schools in New York, gifting the City of New York's Fund for Public Schools with $150k for the cause.

Lloyd Webber said 'I have been passionate about the importance of music in education ever since I wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for a school nearly 50 years ago. The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation has pioneered a scheme in problem public schools in Britain where every child receives a free musical instrument and free music tuition for their entire school career. 3000 children are now part of this scheme and their academic achievements as a result have been transformed'.