Spinning Songs, Scottish Opera’s unique, inter-generational music-making programme, is starting in South Lanarkshire at the end of January.
Pupils from West Mains School, an Additional Support Needs school for children with speech, language and communication needs, will be working with children from Halfmerke Primary School and Halfmerke Community Nursery, and an adult group from Bosfield Place retirement community in East Kilbride.
Led by performers Andrew McTaggart, Daniela Hathaway and repetiteur Beth Jerem, together they will create a series of original songs that reflect life in their local community, celebrating the past and exploring the future. Composer Karen MacIver will also be working with the three groups to help them write new songs.
Spinning Songs launched last year, and in December participants from Aberdeen’s Gilcomstoun Primary School and Nursery, along with residents from Rosewell House and Fergus House care homes, performed at Aberdeen’s newly re-opened Music Hall. The historic hall has undergone a £9 million transformation and to mark the occasion there were performances from groups including the Music Hall Community Choir, aerial dancers and Aberdeen Performing Arts Youth Theatre, as well as Spinning Songs participants.
Jane Davidson, Scottish Opera’s Director of Outreach and Education said:
Connecting our youngest and oldest generations is a key factor in efforts to improve health and wellbeing for society as a whole. Sharing a sense of community and understanding your place in that community play a crucial role in building a culture that celebrates core elements of a successful society, such as creativity, diversity and compassion.
At Scottish Opera, we have been seeing the positive impact of music participation on people with dementia or other cognitive impairments for over 10 years now. The Spinning Songs projects offers communities across Scotland the opportunity to bring together people of all ages to share stories and create songs that reflect their own community, whilst generating a lifelong love and appreciation of music and the arts.