St Cecilia's Hall: Concert Room & Music Museum

St Cecilia's Hall: Concert Room & Music Museum Scotland's oldest purpose-built concert hall & a renowned collection of musical heritage.

St Cecilia's Hall museum brings together one of the world's most important collections of historic musical instruments.

Concerts, tours, and a big day of celebrating community music-making! Join us this November for one of our upcoming even...
31/10/2025

Concerts, tours, and a big day of celebrating community music-making! Join us this November for one of our upcoming events 🙂

🥁 Peace in Progress concert | 1 November 2025, 19:00-21:30 | £15/£20
🥁 Weekly Tours | 8, 11, 19, 28 November 2025, 14:00-15:00 | Free
🥁 Ethan Ward Quiet Concert - Prana: North Indian classical and fusion music | 8 November 2025, 15:00-16:00 | Free
🥁 Winter Family Trail | 15 November - 20 December 2025, multiple time slots | Free; booking appreciated
🥁 St Cecilia’s Big Celebration Day 2025 | 15 November 2025, 13:00-17:00 | Free
🥁 Talk: Dressing for a Concert at St Cecilia's Hall 1763-1787 | 18 November 2025, 18:00-19:00 | £5 or pay what you can
🥁 Belesama (Au plaisir des dames): The Baroque Ménagerie | 22 November 2025, 16:30-18:00 | £10-£25
🥁 Sangstream Sings Songs of Land and Sea | 29 November 2025, 14:00-15:00 | Free; donations appreciated

For more info and to book your tickets, go to our What's On page, and select the event! https://www.stcecilias.ed.ac.uk/whats-on/

Next up for is Laura, our Communities Engagement Officer!What sort of tasks does you day-to-day job involve?'Going out...
31/10/2025

Next up for is Laura, our Communities Engagement Officer!

What sort of tasks does you day-to-day job involve?

'Going out to deliver programmes to community groups or having them come to visit us, and all the various activities that go along with this: working in partnership with community groups or third sector organisations to understand their needs, interests and barriers to participation; planning and developing programmes; recruiting participants; supporting volunteers; designing materials; evaluating, acting on feedback and looking for funding for future projects.'

How did you get into the heritage sector?

'By accident! While finishing a PhD in the English department at Edinburgh I got a part-time maternity leave cover job in student engagement at the Centre for Research Collections. During my studies I always enjoyed teaching and engagement work and my experience in the Heritage Collections encouraged me to pursue engagement as a career path.'

What’s your favourite thing about your job?

'Getting to work with such a variety of wonderful people, including our participants, volunteers, colleagues and community partners. It’s always lovely to be able to introduce people to instruments in the museum or our collections that they might never have seen or thought about before or, equally, that they might have more knowledge about than we do and be able to make a special connection with.'

Meet Jenny, our Musical Instruments Collections Curator (and wonderful singer!) What sort of tasks does you day-to-day ...
30/10/2025

Meet Jenny, our Musical Instruments Collections Curator (and wonderful singer!)

What sort of tasks does you day-to-day job involve?

'It can be many different things, but the main ones relate to the development and use of the Musical Instrument Collection. This includes adding instruments through donations or purchases, providing access for researchers of all kinds, delivering and supporting public events, teaching, doing research, and sometimes I even get to curate exhibitions!'

How did you get into the heritage sector?

'Through music. As part of my music degree at Edinburgh, I got to know the Musical Instrument Collection as a researcher and performer. A few years later I started doing voluntary work in a museum in London and it grew from there. Once I had volunteering under my belt, I was appointed to an assistant curator role, did an MA in Museum and Gallery Management, and in due course moved up to being a curator.'

What’s you favourite thing about your job?

'I love finding out about musical instruments and the people who make and play them. There are so many amazing ideas out there from different places and times, some of which caught on and many of which didn’t. Instruments are shaped by many factors from acoustics, materiality, economics, craft traditions and ergonomics to visual cultures and musical styles – we are all dealing with the same issues. This means that we can use musical instruments to find common ground and to explore human culture in holistic and inclusive ways.'

If you have ever walked past our Dunard Conservation Studio, you may have seen our Senior Conservator Jonathan at work! ...
29/10/2025

If you have ever walked past our Dunard Conservation Studio, you may have seen our Senior Conservator Jonathan at work! Learn a bit more about his role for :

What sort of tasks does your day-to-day job involve?

'I make sure the objects in our collections are well cared for and properly documented. My days can include everything from tuning harpsichords or adjusting the valves of brass instruments, to writing reports and managing collection records. I also carry out conservation treatments and document every step of the process. And, of course, there are the more routine tasks too — like dusting instruments behind glass cases.'

How did you get into the heritage sector?

'It was a long and winding road. I trained as a musical instrument maker and restorer, and wanted to learn more about the historic instruments I was trying to reproduce. That led me to start doing research in museums. A few years later — and after quite a lot of training, I moved from making and restoring instruments to conserving them.'

What’s your favourite thing about your job?

'I never get bored. I work with hundreds of objects made from all kinds of materials and techniques, from different time periods and from all over the world. I’m always learning from the objects themselves. I really enjoy that my job combines intellectual work with practical, hands-on skills.'

Up next for , we have the St Cecilia's Hall Museum Assistant team and a mini interview with Hannah!What sort of tasks d...
28/10/2025

Up next for , we have the St Cecilia's Hall Museum Assistant team and a mini interview with Hannah!

What sort of tasks does you day-to-day job involve?

'My job is really varied, so my day-to-day job changes pretty much every day! For at least half of my day, every day my main responsibilities include manning the front desk, welcoming visitors to the museum and managing venue hire enquiries and bookings. The other half of my day is spent planning and running events and engagement activities in the museum, creating marketing and social media materials to promote our events and the museum as a whole, managing our shop including designing and ordering new stock, managing stock and handling the shop finances and helping out with any other tasks the team needs help with!'

How did you get into the heritage sector?

'I did my undergraduate degree in Heritage and Tourism, and decided I wanted to work in a museum whilst taking a course on museum theory. From there I got a job working as a Gallery Attendant at the National Galleries of Scotland and worked there whilst volunteering here at St Cecilia’s Hall to gain a bit more experience in the collections and research side of museum work. I started my Masters in Museum and Heritage Studies around this time as well, and was really fortunate to be volunteering at SCH still when a position came up in the Museum Assistant team. I was offered this position and have been working here ever since!'

What’s you favourite thing about your job?

'Besides the wonderful, wonderful people I work with, my favourite thing about my job is the variety of work I get to do. No day is ever the same which means I very rarely have a boring day at work! My job allows me to try my hand at a lot of different aspects of museum work, which is really great for someone at the beginning of their career who isn’t sure what career path they want to take yet!'

Happy ! Over the next week, we will be sharing mini interviews with members of the team here at St C's about their role...
27/10/2025

Happy ! Over the next week, we will be sharing mini interviews with members of the team here at St C's about their roles, starting with none other than St Cecilia's Hall Curator (and resident brass player), Sarah!

What sort of tasks does you day-to-day job involve?

'Each day is very different, which is why I love working in museums. At the start of every day I check on the events happening in the museum and work with colleagues to make sure that whatever we need to run a successful event is organised and ready to go. A lot of my day-to-day work involves admin tasks to ensure the smooth running of our building, but I also give tours, facilitate research visits and liaise with stakeholders. I enjoy taking breaks from our office to go down into the galleries and talk with visitors – that is always a treat.'

How did you get into the heritage sector?

'My parents took me to museums and historic sites throughout my childhood and I think that instilled a deep love and appreciation for the heritage sector. After I graduated from Uni, I was working as a teacher and I was a bit uninspired by my job. On a holiday, I visited the musical instrument galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was completely blown away. Even though I had studied music, I didn’t know about the history of musical instruments and I wanted to find out more. I went back to school and luckily for me, my master’s programme took place at a museum of musical instruments. Not only did I learn about my field, but I also got hands on experience working in a museum. Ever since, I have worked in the heritage sector.'

What’s your favourite thing about your job?

'The people. Don’t get me wrong, it is incredible to work with amazing objects (and we have stunning examples at St Cecilia’s Hall), but it is really the people that make the sector. Every day I get to work with a great group of colleagues and volunteers who are passionate about heritage and their enthusiasm comes through in how we interact with our visitors. Museum objects can be beautiful and inspiring, but it is the people who make the difference.'

24/10/2025

We're sorry to announce that due to unforeseen circumstances, the Binks Gallery is temporarily closed - the rest of the museum remains open. We will make an announcement on our social media channels when it is reopened!

⏰Tuesday, 18th November 2025, 18:00-19:00📍St Cecilia's Hall, 50 Niddry St, EH1 1LGEnlightenment Edinburgh. The Social Se...
20/10/2025

⏰Tuesday, 18th November 2025, 18:00-19:00
📍St Cecilia's Hall, 50 Niddry St, EH1 1LG

Enlightenment Edinburgh. The Social Season is in full swing.

Are you a wealthy landowner in town for the duration? Are you one of Edinburgh’s social or intellectual elite? Are you a lady of fashion or a young man in want of a wife?

If so, you will certainly be attending the Ladies’ Concert at St Cecilia’s Hall –‘One of the most elegant and genteel entertainments of anywhere in Britain’. Everyone who is anyone will be there.

There is only one question left to ask, ‘What will you wear?’ Come and find out!

Join long-time St Cecilia's Hall volunteer Dona Easton, as she draws on writings and newspaper adverts from the period to explore how our concert-goers may have prepared for their outing at St Cecilia's Hall when it first opened!

Book your spot: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dressing-for-a-concert-at-st-cecilias-hall-1763-1787-tickets-1688416823169?aff=oddtdtcreator

Image: 'A Little Tighter' by Thomas Rowlandson

The great highland bagpipes are by no means our biggest object in size, but if you've ever stood beside a piper playing ...
03/10/2025

The great highland bagpipes are by no means our biggest object in size, but if you've ever stood beside a piper playing this instrument before, you will no double agree they are mighty in sound!

This particular set is on display in the Wolfson Gallery and dates from between 1894-1895.

Scottish Museums Federation

Address

50 Niddry Street
Edinburgh
EH11LG

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 10am - 4:30pm
Thursday 10am - 4:30pm
Friday 10am - 4:30pm
Saturday 10am - 4:30pm

Telephone

441316502600

Website

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