Edinburgh College

EC Sessions

Established by part-time Edinburgh College lecturer Jess Abrams, EC Sessions provides a safe and welcoming space for young people from local communities across Edinburgh aged 12-18 to have meaningful non-formal music-making opportunities every week.

With inclusiveness at its heart and the belief that everyone deserves music, the project gives the young people who attend the autonomy to choose their instruments and the music they play, irrelevant of their level of ability. 

This is at the core of the project’s vision: a way to experience college that helps young people to see a place that is for them – a place they are welcome and feel a connection to without all the formality often associated with coming in the ‘front door’. For some, it's meant a gentle route into studying at the college, for others, EC Sessions has simply been a place to come to learn, play, compose and record music.

Top 3 Learnings

1. 70 young people have learned how to play a musical instrument.
2. These young people learned what it is like to be part of a huge community.
3. Participants have further learned that equal opportunities should be afforded to all.