Our Learning & Participation programme is central to everything we do at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Alongside our concert‑hall performances, we take music into classrooms, community spaces and healthcare settings across Scotland. Our work engages with people at every stage and age of life, creating opportunities to take part in music, express creativity and experience the powerful sense of connection that live music can bring.

To mark the launch of our new Season, we’re proud to share five short films that capture the profound, lasting impact of this work, told in the voices of the people who experience it first-hand.

Together, these stories reflect the depth and breadth of our Learning & Participation activity: from work with children and young people, to creative health programmes, lifelong wellbeing initiatives and pathways for emerging artists. Each film offers a personal perspective on how music can shape lives, emotionally, socially and creatively.

Sarah Duncan – Expressive Arts Curriculum Leader, Castlebrae Community Campus

For many children and young people, music can be a powerful source of confidence, identity and belonging. Through immersive school partnerships, creative classroom projects and live performance experiences, the SCO works closely with educators to support learning, creativity and wellbeing.

In this film, Sarah Duncan reflects on the role music has played in shaping both her own life and the lives of the young people she teaches – and how working with the SCO has helped to bring creativity to life across the school community.

Zac Nedumpully – Student, Castlebrae Community Campus

Our work with young people is about more than performance – it’s about self‑expression, connection and being heard.

A participant in both SCO Academy and Craigmillar Voices, Zac Nedumpully shares how music has given him a voice, a sense of purpose and a way to communicate who he is.

Kenny Moffat – Scottish Dementia Working Group

Music has a unique ability to spark memory, emotion and connection. The SCO’s dementia‑friendly concerts and Creative Health initiatives create welcoming, inclusive spaces where people living with a dementia can share meaningful musical experiences alongside family and friends.

In this film, Kenny Moffat speaks movingly about the importance of music in his life, and the difference these shared experiences can make.

Jane Bentley – ReConnect Leader and community music specialist

Our ReConnect programme brings music directly into hospitals, care homes and day centres, creating moments of joy, creativity and connection for people living with a dementia, their families and caregivers.

Jane Bentley, who leads ReConnect sessions across Scotland, reflects on the extraordinary power of these weekly encounters, and the “little miracles” that can happen when people make music together.

Dan Abrahams – composer and Soundbox participant

Through programmes like Soundbox, the SCO supports composers and music‑makers from a wide range of musical and cultural backgrounds, helping them explore new ideas and develop their creative voice within a chamber‑music setting.

In this film, Dan Abrahams describes how taking part in Soundbox opened up new ways of expressing himself through music, and how creative mentorship can shape artistic futures.

These five stories represent just a small part of the SCO’s work in the wider community. Taken together, they demonstrate what music can make possible when it’s placed at the centre of people’s lives.

From early years to older age, from education to health and wellbeing, and from first experiences to professional pathways, our Learning & Participation programme is about creating access, inspiration and connection – through music, for life.

Explore the full programme here.