In this month’s Spotlight, we’re celebrating the incredible efforts made by Edinburgh and Perth and Kinross City Councils to bring together thousands of young people and professional musicians to sing and play music together to mark the end of the school year.
City of Edinburgh Council Summer Concert, June 2,0 2025. Image by Kat Gollock. Header image also by Kat Gollock.
We know that there’s nothing quite like the experience of singing together but this month’s spotlight focuses on two local authorities who went BIG with their end of year celebrations!
For years Perth and Kinross Council’s Follow the Band project has wrapped up the end of term with a weeklong school’s tour culminating with a live, and livestreamed performance for primary school pupils across the authority. In the lead up to the event, songs are shared with classroom teachers using an online musical platform called Charanga to allow the pupils to rehearse and prepare for the big day. The band, made up of YMI staff and Instrumental Teaching Instructors being the week touring round schools in the authority before culminating at Perth Concert Hall with players form the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The audience is filled with 1,200 pupils and livestreamed to all primary schools.
Taking inspiration from the Follow the Band project, the City of Edinburgh’s Council’s Instrumental Music Service partnered with Youth Music Initiative Music Instructors, students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Love Music and Sacred Paws to deliver Edinburgh’s first Big Sing event as part of the Edinburgh 900 celebrations.
Bringing over 70 musicians, singers from Edinburgh Schools Rock Ensemble and a choir of pupils from Castlebrae Community High School and Tynecastle High Schools the event filled the Usher Hall for a morning of singing and dancing. As with the Follow the Band project, class teachers were supported to learn the songs in the lead up to the event and were also taught to sing and sign along to an Abba’s Mama Mia on the day.
These events showcase the magic of mass music making and the electric feeling of joy and connectedness which can be created when we sing together. They also provide an opportunity for staff to take to the stage to share their love of the orchestra with the pupils they teach. Through an eclectic mix of classical repertoire, pop hits and traditional tunes the events demonstrate the ways in which music plays an essential part of our everyday lives.
Based on the incredible roar from the audience demanding an encore we know the pupils absolutely loved the experience!
It takes a mountain of work to make these events happen, so we’d like a say a huge thank you to everyone who made these events, and all the other events that the music services deliver throughout the year.
Read more about the Edinburgh Big Sing on the City Council website.