At Big Noise centres around the country over the past few weeks, our children and young people have been celebrating the end of another hugely successful year with a series of special winter concerts. 

For many of our centres around Scotland, this has been the first opportunity to celebrate the festive season with a winter concert since December 2019, due to the disruption of the pandemic – so it was a delight to welcome our community members back for an evening of wonderful music. 

2022 has been a fantastic year for all of our Big Noise centres, who have continued to make a significant difference to the lives of the children and young people that we work with, and the communities in which we operate. This impact was exemplified by recently published research conducted by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health which found that participants in Big Noise Raploch were more likely to have gone on to a positive post-school destination and were more likely to be in employment than those who didn’t participate. 

At their concert at the historic Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling, the children and young people of Big Noise Raploch put on an incredible show to celebrate the end of another successful year in the community. 

Raploch’s young musicians treated attendees to renditions of Mozart’s ‘Apollo and Hyacinth’, a selection of music from Danny Elfman’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’, and a special version of the Christmas classic ‘Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow’.  

As the year draws to a close, the concert was a perfect opportunity to celebrate another busy year for Big Noise across Stirling and to look forward to an exciting 2023, which will see the 15th birthday of the original Big Noise programme in Raploch. 

Big Noise Fallin in Stirling, which was only established in autumn 2021, achieved a bronze award at the Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships at the end of November. This was followed in early December by a much-appreciated performance at Fallin’s Christmas lights ceremony. Older counterparts at Big Noise Raploch have been playing alongside the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with performances in both Edinburgh’s Usher Hall and Perth Concert Hall in the past month.

A little further south, the children and young people of Big Noise Govanhill held their own celebratory winter concert, showcasing their hard work and commitment over the past 12 months.  

The concert at Elim Church in Govanhill was the perfect opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the past year. The concert was also a chance to celebrate the coming year, which will see Big Noise Govanhill celebrate its tenth birthday.  

At the concert in Elim Church, different orchestras and ensembles from Big Noise Govanhill treated guests to renditions of the Christmas classics ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and ‘Little Donkey’, an arrangement of the traditional Liberian song ‘Banuwa, as well as a special version of the George Ezra hit ‘Shotgun’.  

At the Big Noise centre in Aberdeen, the children and young people of Big Noise Torry held their own winter concert, which offered them the opportunity to show off the musical skills that they have learned over the past year to their families, friends, and community members. 

2022 has been an incredibly busy year for the children and young people of Big Noise Torry. Earlier in the year, a number of participants took part in a special performance at Aberdeen’s Music Hall with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra – which was loved by all in attendance. 

At the concert at Tullos Primary School, different orchestras and ensembles from Big Noise Torry treated guests to special renditions of the Christmas classics ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’, ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’, and a special version of ‘Snowflakes Falling’.   

At the same time as their counterparts in Govanhill, the children and young people of Big Noise Douglas held a celebratory winter concert at Claypotts Primary School, showcasing their hard work and commitment over the past 12 months. This was particularly special for the Douglas community as it was the first opportunity for family and friends to enjoy this much-loved annual event in-person since 2019. 

At the concert at Claypotts Primary School, the Macaroni Penguin and Emperor Penguin orchestras treated guests to renditions of 'Manhattan Blues’, ‘Kangaroo Rag’, and the traditional Finnish folk song ‘Lennälennäleppäkerttu’.

A number of young people from Big Noise Raploch’s secondary school orchestra were also on hand to perform special versions of the Christmas classics ‘Let it Snow’ and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ to get the audience in a festive mood and demonstrate what can be achieved by long term commitment to the work. 

As a whole, the winter concerts celebrating the festive season were a roaring success, and were the perfect way to celebrate another brilliant year for our programmes across Scotland.  

The team at Sistema Scotland and all of our Big Noise programmes would like to thank the wonderful communities we work with for making this another concert season to remember. Across Scotland, our work is only possible because of the continued cooperation and support of each individual community – so it was fantastic to be able to welcome you all back. We’d also like to extend a special thanks to our supporters and funders - without whom the work of the Big Noise programmes across the country would not be possible.   

Most importantly, we would like to thank every one of the children and young people that have taken part in Big Noise sessions this year. Your hard work, determination, and your enduring passion for playing music throughout the year made this concert season a joy for all involved, and we cannot wait to see you perform again

in the New Year!