Fifth Birthday: the Benedetti Foundation celebrates five years of delivering transformative experiences through mass music events

Founder Nicola Benedetti at one of the Benedetti Foundation’s live Benedetti Sessions

This year the Benedetti Foundation celebrates its fifth birthday; five years of delivering transformative experiences through mass music events, aiming to ensure equal access to music participation and appreciation for all. 

The foundation was created by Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti (now, artistic director of the Edinburgh International Festival). She commented, “Now as we look ahead, we carry forward our mission with renewed purpose: to empower and inspire people through music; to reach even more communities and individuals; to continue celebrating the diversity and richness of musical expression and to deepen the impact of music on people’s lives.”

The Benedetti Foundation’s first five years in numbers:

• 100,000 participants of all ages and levels in 137 countries
• 15 live Benedetti Sessions in locations across the UK working with 17,000 young people
• Annual week-long Residency Sessions each reach around 18,000 young people
• 450 participants on the Ambassador Programme nurturing the next generation of music educators
• Worked with over 900 adult learners.
• Online free educational video resources have had over 6.6 million views 

This year’s activities include two live Benedetti Sessions, 13 Residency Sessions and 6 adult learner days, along with Virtual Sessions including 20 short, focused online workshops, whilst the Ambassador Programme welcomes over 100 students and recent graduates to its annual free training programme for 19 to 35-year-olds and the Young Ambassador Programme offers an insight into what a career in music could look like to 15 to 18 year olds.