YOUNG people from a community music and social change programme took part in a series of special concerts celebrating another year of tackling inequalities in Aberdeen.
More than 170 young musicians from Big Noise Torry, all aged between seven and 17, performed at two special concerts earlier this week at the Greyhope Community Campus.
The two concerts served as a celebration of ten years of Big Noise in the Torry community. The events featured performances from a number of Big Noise groups and ensembles, including Big Noise Torry’s Seagulls, Starfish, Puffins, Intermezzo, and Advanced orchestras.
They were joined by community members, Big Noise staff and volunteers, and local councillors.
Concertgoers were treated to an impressive and varied programme of all types of music – ranging from musical selections from ‘Star Wars’, folk music in the form of Klezmer tunes, the overture from Mozart’s ‘Apollo et Hyacinthus’, and the Burns staple ‘Auld Lang Syne’.
Big Noise Torry launched in 2015 and now works with around 750 children, young people, and their families every week, supporting them to reach their full potential.
Big Noise is a high-quality music education and social change programme, which launched in Raploch in Stirling in 2008. It sees children and young people learn music after school, creating a community symphony orchestra which supports them in gaining vital life skills such as confidence, resilience, creativity, and aspiration.
There are now six centres supporting almost 4,000 children and young people across Scotland, including Raploch and Fallin in Stirling, Govanhill in Glasgow, Douglas in Dundee, Torry in Aberdeen, and Wester Hailes in Edinburgh.
Big Noise is designed to strengthen the communities where it is based, developing relationships with participants and their families based on mutual respect, trust and a commitment to working together and tackling inequalities for the long term.
Through music and nurturing relationships, from infancy to adulthood, Big Noise supports participants’ wellbeing and helps them reach their full potential.
A long-term evaluation of the model by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health was published in 2022. It found that 98 per cent of Big Noise participants in Raploch went on to a positive post-school destination.
Lorna Carruthers, head of centre at Big Noise Torry, said:
“We’re so proud of all of our children and young people – not just for their fantastic performances at our summer concerts, but also for all of the hard work and dedication they have showed over the past year.
“Our concerts this week have been the perfect way for our children and young people, their friends and family, and other members of our community to come together to celebrate the end of another school year and ten amazing years of Big Noise in Torry.”
June, whose daughter Aisha, 14, played violin with the Advanced orchestra in Wednesday’s concert, said:
“The concert tonight was fantastic – it’s always so great being at Big Noise, and it’s great to see the smiles on all of their faces. They all put so much work into it, so it’s a great way to celebrate at the end of the year.
“Aisha has been coming here since she was six years old. She’s more confident now, and her resilience is way up there now, in a way it never used to be. It’s good for her and it’s great for her mental health as well.”
