SCO ReConnect is a programme of interactive, creative music workshops for people living with dementia. This project provides a series of music sessions in which patients are invited and supported to sing, play instruments, improvise and listen. Sessions are delivered by a specialist workshop leader and two SCO musicians and involve dementia patients, visiting family members and NHS staff.
SCO ReConnect is delivered in partnership with the University of Edinburgh at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. The workshops aim to put the patients at the heart of the musical experience. The sessions include a range of interactive music activities, including performances of stylistically varied music and songs by SCO musicians, and the creation of improvised pieces that draw upon patients' mood or movements. The project aims to use live music to improve patients' sense of well-being and quality of life, to help improve the sense of well-being in all staff working within the ward, and to encourage the general use of music in the care setting.
The next series of ReConnect workshops will take place in Edinburgh later in 2018.
On behalf of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra