We do this through our transformational social change and high quality music education programme, Big Noise, where the symphony orchestra becomes a community that supports children and young people to gain vital life skills such as confidence, resilience, team work, pride, creativity, and aspiration, and aims to strengthen community cohesion and tackle inequalities in some of Scotland’s most disadvantaged areas.
Through music and nurturing relationships, from infancy to adulthood, Big Noise supports participants’ wellbeing and helps them reach their full potential. This enables them to become happy, healthy adults and lead successful and fulfilled lives. We started with Big Noise Raploch in April 2008, with six musicians supporting 35 young schoolchildren. We now work with over 3,500 children and young people in six communities across five cities.
Sistema Scotland is the name of the national charity that runs the Big Noise programmes. We currently operate six Big Noise programmes across Scotland:
Writer and broadcaster, Richard Holloway, founded Sistema Scotland in 2008 with an aim of using music as a tool to bring about positive social change to children in some of Scotland's most underprivilaged communities. After ten inspiring years as Chairman of Sistema Scotland, Richard retired from the board in 2018 at the age of 85.
While the original inspiration for Sistema Scotland came from the 'El Sistema' music education programme in Venezuela, we are an entirely independent organisation with a different model of delivery and governance that is specific to the social, political, economic, and learning environment of Scotland, and that meets the needs of the children, young people, and communities in which we operate.
