大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - The musical project that changed the lives of council estate children 鈥� and how it鈥檚 creating Proms stars of the future

The musical project that changed the lives of council estate children 鈥� and how it鈥檚 creating Proms stars of the future

15 August 2018

Stirling’s Raploch housing estate used to be a byword for deprivation but, 10 years ago, the arrival of the charity Sistema Scotland helped change that. These days, Raploch is best known for its musical talent.

The transformation began with Sistema’s Big Noise project, which took its inspiration from a successful Venezuelan programme to take children from disadvantaged backgrounds and give them free access to instruments and musical tuition.

A decade on, Raploch’s teenagers have grown up with orchestral music and it has become an integral part of their lives.

16-year-old Vincent Connolly has been involved with the Big Noise programme since the start.

“Through the ’Noise, I’ve learned how to write my own music, how to read music, how to listen to other people’s music and give feedback about it,” he explained.

“I’ve done my and music exams. I wouldn’t have done that if I never had Big Noise.”

鈥業 felt empty without music鈥�

Vincent got involved with Sistema aged six, and it鈥檚 had a huge impact on his life.

The pupils’ passion for performing has led some to play with the National Youth Orchestras, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s junior school.

To the great pride of Sistema Scotland, one teenager was recently awarded a place on an undergraduate course at the Conservatoire.

Creating world-class musicians has never been Sistema’s goal – it prefers to focus on equipping children with life skills such as confidence, team-work and discipline. But the emergence of rising stars is a very welcome consequence.