Background: This context statement describes the formation and organisation of a community music centre www.coda.org.uk from the personal story and perspective of the founder and director. The work was undertaken at a time (1995 – 2005) of changes in music education in the UK and changes to the funding environment for the arts. It includes the background to the formation of the Music Research Institute www.mri.ac.uk. The paper is supported by evidence of correspondence, the author’s own writings from a national music education magazine, annual reports from the time and the author’s own examples of music, workshops and perfomances. Methods: The statement uses an autoethnographic approach with a retrospective analysis of the story placing the work into the organisational, educational and social context of the time. It explores through developmental models the drivers for the direction and decisions made to fund and grow the organisation. Case studies and evidence in piano tuition, music therapy and governance are used to support the statement. Conclusions: The statement identified aesthetic and organisational connections and threads of relationships that became concrete in the culture and style of the organisation. It also identified challenges of funding a large capital project in community music making set against an establishment and conservatoire ecology of music making and learning. The statement concludes by defining a six point list of innovations of combining formal and informal music making within a centre for life-long learning for all ages and all abilities.