Youngsters from deprived area of Aberdeen display their talents in pioneering orchestra

Youngsters in Aberdeen with no previous musical background have been showing off their new talents in a pioneering orchestra.

Big Noise Torry provides free music lessons to one of the city’s most deprived areas and helps young people reach their full potential through music.

Lorna Carruthers, who runs the Torry centre, told STV News: “The concept behind Big Noise was to create an orchestra as a community to think about the positive outcomes for young people.

“There’s so much potential in every young person, so it’s a real privilege to find a way of unlocking that potential through music.

“We see young people from when they are babies with their parents and carers all the way up to the end of school, so it’s really a birth to adulthood programme.”

Many of the youngsters have grown up with the programme and they celebrated the festive season with a special end-of-term Christmas concert.

Some of them had never picked up a musical instrument until joining the orchestra.

Paul Sullivan from Big Noise said: “We know the power that music can have and the concert is a great example of young people developing their skills and musicianship.”

Concert-goers were treated to a variety of musical styles and cultures, including the festive classics “Let it Snow” and “Frosty the Snowman” alongside music from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” and other Big Noise favourites.

There are now six centres supporting almost 4,000 children and young people across Scotland, including Raploch and Fallin in Stirling, Govanhill in Glasgow, Torry in Aberdeen, and Douglas in Dundee.

The programme supports about 800 children in Torry including 14-year-old Chloe Stirton, who has been going along for eight years.

She told STV News: “I probably wouldn’t have started music if it hadn’t been for Big Noise, I’m glad they have it in Torry, I think it’s really good for us.”

Krista Varganova, 16, played cello in the Christmas concert .

“I love getting to play music with my friends in our cello trio,” she said. “It’s great getting to express myself through music and seeing everyone in the audience smiling.”