What’s On

Visiting our museum

Opening Hours:

Monday – Closed
Tuesday – 10:00 – 16:30
Wednesday – 10:00 – 16:30
Thursday – 10:00 – 16:30
Friday – 10:00 – 16:30
Saturday – 10:00 – 16:30
Sunday – Closed

Weekly Tours

March Tour Dates

Thursday 14th March 2024 | 14:00 | FREE | Tickets via Eventbrite

Join Claire for a tour of some of our early keyboard instruments and learn all about some of our oldest keyed instruments!

Friday 22nd March 2024 | 14:00 | FREE | Tickets via Eventbrite

Join Dona for a tour of our keyboard galleries and learn all about our early keyboard collections!

Saturday 30th March 2024 | 14:00 | FREE | Tickets via Eventbrite

Join Jim on a tour of the Laigh Hall and learn about how playing music as a group works!

Concerts at St Cecilia’s Hall

Quiet Concerts: Season 2

Back by popular demand, join us for the second season of our Quiet Concerts.

I stilla vatten – In Still Waters: Nordic Music with Toby Hawks and Madeleine Sjöstrand | 23 March 2024 | FREE | 15:00 | Tickets via Eventbrite

Lost Treasures: Forgotten Masterpieces for 19th-Century Guitar with Jamie Akers | 27 April 2024 | FREE | 15:00 | Tickets via Eventbrite

‘It is here that you will find your heart’s soundboard’ (Schubart, 1786); John Kitchen plays clavichords from the Musical Instrument Collection | 25 May 2024 | FREE | 15:00 | Tickets via Eventbrite

Nova Cantica

Nova Cantica – Youth Choir | 5 April 2024 | FREE | 12:00

Nova Cantica from Halmstad, Sweden, performs a mixed programme with folk, classical and pop songs both a cappella and with instrumentalists from the choir.

The Wallace Collection

After Haydyn | 7 April 2024 | Pay What You Can | 15:15 (Pre-concert activities from 14:30) | Tickets via Eventbrite

Presenting the third our Illustrated Concert at St Cecilia’s Hall Series 2024, The Wallace Collection will perform music by Haydn, Bellon and Mimart, talk about their period instruments and the world of innovation in which these works first saw the light of day.

St Cecilia’s Informal Talk Series 2024

St Cecilia’s Hall by Page Park Architects. Copyright Jim Stephenson 2017.

May 1st | Musical Conservation: Preserving Sound | 18:00-19:00 | Tickets: Pay What You Can | Tickets available now via Eventbrite

If you want to learn about why, what, and how we do conservation here at St Cecilia’s then join us for this short informal talk by our conservator to get a glimpse into the wonderful world of instrument conservation.

August 22nd | Concert Couture: Dressing for Concerts in Late Eighteenth-Century Britain | 18:00-19:00 | Tickets: Pay What You Can | Bookings will open on Eventbrite in Summer

Interested in fashion? Loved watching Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte series? Then we have the talk for you! Join Dr Emily Taylor, the National Museum’s Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts, for an informal talk on the fashions you might have seen gracing our concert hall in the 1760s.

November | Edinburgh’s Old Town | Tickets: Pay What You Can | Bookings will open on Eventbrite in Autumn

The details of our November talk are currently in the works so watch this space!

Family Activities

Spring Family Trail

March 28 – April 30 2024 | FREE | 10:00-16:00 | Tickets available via Eventbrite

Following the usual route around the museum, see if you can spot the 8 colourful eggs hidden throughout the galleries. Each gallery has two eggs for you to find!

Museum Socials

Our Social Programme creates a friendly environment where everyone is welcome and all contributions are valued. Sessions start with tea and cake, and feature a range of activities inspired by our collections, building confidence, inspiring creativity and having fun. They are suitable for those who might be regular visitors, those who have always loved visiting, as well as those who have never come to our museum before. Sessions run from 10:30-12:00.

Family Programme

One of the St Cecilia's Team explaining how a Harpsichord works on one of our school tours

Families and children of all ages are always welcome at St Cecilia’s Hall. Come and have fun together while learning about the history of musical instruments.

Our children’s tour can help introduce the instruments to young children while our hands-on interactive ‘discover drawers’ allow visitors both young and old the opportunity to uncover how instruments work.

Children can explore the museum with our Discovery Trail – ask for it at the front desk when you arrive!.

We run a wide range of practical, hands-on workshops, led by musical instrument specialists throughout the year. Look at the Upcoming Events section below to see when the next activity is taking place or contact SCHevents@ed.ac.uk for more information.

In addition, tours or other activities can be arranged to cater for special interests and a varied needs. Please contact SCHgroupvisits@ed.ac.uk for more information.

Venue Hire

St Cecilia’s Hall, located off the iconic Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s Old Town provides contemporary facilities and comfort, within the stunning 1763 heritage building, uniquely home to a world class collection of musical instruments.

We welcome bookings for events that support the museum’s core purpose as a concert hall for live music, and museum of music and musical instruments.

We have two separate spaces available for hire to suit a range of events / activities and budgets:

The Sypert Concert Room  (first floor) – max capacity 180 (this number includes all staffing/performers/speakers etc).

The Laigh Hall*  (ground floor) –  for receptions/refreshments max capacity 80.

St Cecilia’s Hall opening event for CRC Staff, 18th May 2017.

Note that the Laigh Hall itself is divided in 2 by a glass wall creating 2 spaces, both these spaces comprise the Laigh Hall.

Please note absolutely no catering is permitted in the Sypert Concert Room however refreshments can be served in the ground floor Laigh Hall and Historic Foyer. Catering must be arranged separately by the client as St Cecilia’s does not provide this service.

If you would like to enquire about venue hire at St. Cecilia’s full details and prices are available here or email us for more details: SCHEvents@ed.ac.uk