About Us
musicALL supports disabled and neurodivergent young people to achieve their full potential through music-making.
We believe in breaking down barriers to music education because we’ve seen how transformational it can be. Through our projects, both in extra-curricular school sessions and out, young people have co-designed brand practice, jam sessions and live performances with us – growing their confidence and skills through the process.
Before musicALL became what it is today, it started as a band at Hazelwood Secondary School organised by their music teacher, Julie McKenzie. The band – made up of disabled, neurodivergent and sensory impaired pupils who showed musical talent – became The Fridays (named after the day they met) and continued to grow in enthusiasm and talent, even after leaving school.
Making music became so transformative for the musicians in The Fridays that it made sense for the work to expand both in and out of schools. Today, musicALL is made up of 6 staff members, 3 music tutors and 5 music workers. Our projects in schools have expanded and now cover every ASL school in Glasgow, as well as regular sessions for school leavers and independent bands – including the Fridays which is still going strong!
We welcome news participants to our projects: Move On Up is perfect for S5/6 pupils and young adults who have left school and want to stretch their musical skills in the context of a band. They’ll also have regular opportunities to showcase those skills through public performances. In musicALL Presents… we support musicians who have graduated through our Move On Up programme to become performing musicians, writing and recording their own music and performing at high-profile venues. To join, email Scott on scott@musicallscotland.org.uk
If you’d like to join the team, keep an eye on our Vacancies Page for upcoming announcements or subscribe to the musicALL Newsletter.
A list of our current funders can be found below. The work of musicALL also relies on contributions from our wider community. You can donate through Just Giving, and see funds are used over on our Donations page.