St Cecilia's Hall

Winter Family Trail
2025-11-15 10:00 - 2025-12-20 16:00 (Europe/London) | St Cecilia’s Hall, 50 Niddry St, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH1 1LL, United Kingdom
Join us this Winter for a free, fun Winter-themed family trail!
Following the usual route around the museum, see if you can spot the 8 snow-people hidden throughout the galleries and answer each of their music-related questions to win a Winter-themed sticker at the end!

Book Your Tickets Here

Weekly Tour
2025-11-11 14:00 - 15:00
Join volunteer Claire to learn all about some of the oldest keyed instruments in our collection.

Book Your Tickets Here

Ethan Ward Quiet Concert II: Prana: North Indian classical and fusion music
2025-11-08 15:00 - 16:00
Join us for this month’s quiet concert featuring music from Prana: North Indian classical and fusion music for sitar, tabla, violin, bansuri and handpan.

We have thought about some of the sensory issues that can keep people away from many events and made some small but important adjustments.

What we will do differently includes:

Asking audiences for quiet applause, such as only using 2 fingers from each hand, patting the leg, or using the BSL sign for applause

Keeping the concert to one hour in length and having breaks between pieces every 10 minutes so that you can move around, wriggle or chat quietly for a few minutes

Keeping light levels low

Using rugs, cushions and benches as well as chairs so that you can sit how you prefer

Keeping numbers down to avoid crowding

Choosing relatively quiet instruments from the University’s world-famous Musical Instrument Collection and not using electric amplification

Scheduling in the afternoon so you don’t have to travel home in the dark or when the streets are too busy

Providing a space in the Laigh Hall to escape to if you need it

The musicians who will be performing are all highly skilled, so you will experience top-quality music making.

If this appeals to you, why not come along?

Consultant and Autist in Residence: Lucy Whitehead

Book Your Tickets Here

Weekly Tour
2025-11-08 14:00 - 15:00
Join volunteer Jim to learn about the development of instruments over time.

Book Your Tickets Here

Peace in Progress﻿
2025-11-01 19:15 - 21:30
Join us for a powerful evening of music, storytelling and hope as Edinburgh charity, Firefly International, marks 30 years of overcoming boundaries through friendship, education, and the arts. In a world increasingly divided, we’re bringing our mission home – united in creativity, driven by youth, and inspired by peace. Join us at Scotland’s oldest purpose-built concert hall for an evening of music and fundraising for children affected by war.
Please note that this event is hosted by an external organisation and not St Cecilia’s Hall. For any enquiries about this specific event please see the organiser contact information below.

Book Your Tickets Here

Fireflies for Peace
2025-11-01 10:30 - 15:00
Fireflies for Peace is a global music project for children Children are invited to take part in a free a one-day music and peace workshop in Edinburgh. The event is open to all and there is no singing experience required. On the day, they’ll:

Learn and perform the classic tune Fireflies (by Owl City)
Take part in a fun workshop to learn about peace, kindness, and friendship
Help record a professional cover track and video
Perform for families and friends at the beautiful St Cecilia’s Hall

The event details are below Date: 10:30-3pm – Saturday 1st November Location: St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh, EH1 1LG Open to: Children aged 8-14 Cost: Free (places are limited!)
Please note that this event is hosted by an external organisation and not St Cecilia’s Hall. For any enquiries about this specific event please see the organiser contact information below.

Book Your Tickets Here

Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera
2025-10-31 20:30 - 21:30
Moonlight Concerts return to Edinburgh with a musical show inspired by Halloween.
Storyteller and concert pianist Matthew Shiel, international opera singer Ines Mayhew-Begg and acclaimed Shanghainese Disney illustrator Emma Yitong Shen collaborate on a new show inspired by the greatest ghost story every told – Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera (1910).
Venetian masks, operatic arias, dramatic silhoettes and the most haunting piano pieces ever written meet alongside romantic candlelight recitations of Gaston Leroux’s original novel and an ethereal digital art exhibition designed by acclaimed Chinese artist and Disney illustrator Emma Yitong Shen – to create a simultaneously thrilling and terrifying musical experience designed to seduce your senses – and lure you away to the phantom’s lair!
“Christine, you must love me!”
Please note that this event is hosted by an external organisation and not St Cecilia’s Hall. For any enquiries about this specific event please see the organiser contact information below.

Book Your Tickets Here

Edgar Allan Poe's Ghost Stories x Moonlight Sonata by Candlelight
2025-10-31 19:00 - 20:00
Moonlight Concerts return to Edinburgh with a musical show inspired by Halloween.
Usher Hall and Sir Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now! emerging artist and pianist Matthew Shiel collaborates with acclaimed Scottish author Alastair Sim and acclaimed Chinese Disney illustrator Emma Yitong Shen as they collaborate on a new show inspired by the greatest ghost storyteller who ever lived, Edgar Allan Poe. His presence and words are accompanied by the most horrifying piano music ever composed and an original new ghost story concieved by tonight’s author himself! Concludes with a performance of Beethoven’s gothic masterpiece – Moonlight Sonata by atmospheric candlelight – to create a simultaneously thrilling and terrifying storytelling experience designed to seduce your senses – and lure you away to ‘nevermore…’
Please note that this event is hosted by an external organisation and not St Cecilia’s Hall. For any enquiries about this specific event please see the organiser contact information below.

Book Your Tickets Here

Edinburgh Quartet - St. Cecilia's - Concert 2
2025-10-28 13:00 - 14:00
The Edinburgh Quartet presents the second concert of their series at St. Cecilia’s Hall. This concert continues the exploration of Beethoven’s op. 18 quartets with his quartet no. 2 in G major. Alongside this, the quartet will play Haydn’s much loved and virtuosic quartet op. 76 no. 5, and a wonderful work by by the English/American composer Rebecca Clarke, Poem for String Quartet, written in 1926.
Since their founding in 1960, ‘Scotland’s string quartet’ has brought world-class classical music to every corner of Scotland and beyond. The quartet is thrilled to be collaborating with St. Cecilia’s Hall, Scotland’s oldest concert hall (1763), and looks forward to welcoming you to this special lunchtime series.
The programme for the second concert will be as follows:
Joseph Haydn – string quartet op. 76 no. 5
Rebecca Clarke – Poem for String Quartet
Ludwig van Beethoven – string quartet op. 18 no. 2
Please note that this event is hosted by a partner organisation and not St Cecilia’s Hall. For any enquiries about this specific event please see the organiser contact information below.

Book Your Tickets Here

Weekly Tour
2025-10-25 14:00 - 15:00
Join Jim to learn about how playing in a group setting works.

Book Your Tickets Here

Seeds of Hope 2025
2025-10-22 19:30 - 21:00
An evening of live music, song, stories, and discussion – about homeland, migration, and how music helps us to understand who we are and how we belong. With performances from Iranian traditional musician Aref Ghorbani, klezmer and Yiddish specialist Phil Alexander, and contemporary Iranian singer Farzane Zamen. Supported by The National Lottery Community Fund Awards for All.
Please note that this event is hosted by an external organisation and not St Cecilia’s Hall. For any enquiries about this specific event please see the organiser contact information below.

Book Your Tickets Here

Ethan Ward Quiet Concert I: Fantasia - works for flute and keyboard
2025-10-18 15:00 - 16:00
Join us for this month’s quiet concert featuring music from Richard Craig (flutes) and Chris Baxter (keyboard).

We have thought about some of the sensory issues that can keep people away from many events and made some small but important adjustments.

What we will do differently includes:

Asking audiences for quiet applause, such as only using 2 fingers from each hand, patting the leg, or using the BSL sign for applause

Keeping the concert to one hour in length and having breaks between pieces every 10 minutes so that you can move around, wriggle or chat quietly for a few minutes

Keeping light levels low

Using rugs, cushions and benches as well as chairs so that you can sit how you prefer

Keeping numbers down to avoid crowding

Choosing relatively quiet instruments from the University’s world-famous Musical Instrument Collection and not using electric amplification

Scheduling in the afternoon so you don’t have to travel home in the dark or when the streets are too busy

Providing a space in the Laigh Hall to escape to if you need it

The musicians who will be performing are all highly skilled, so you will experience top-quality music making.

If this appeals to you, why not come along?

Consultant and Autist in Residence: Lucy Whitehead

Book Your Tickets Here

Weekly Tour
2025-10-17 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-09-26 14:00 - 15:00
Join Dona to learn all about our early keyboard instruments.

Book Your Tickets Here

Leaky bodies and touchy software
2025-10-15 19:00 - 21:00
Edinburgh College of Art and BRAID (Bridging Responsible AI Divides) invite you to a concert featuring new music that explores instruments, bodies, software and hardware, hosted at St Cecilia’s Hall. For a full outline of the event, click here.
Please note that this event is hosted by an external organisation and not St Cecilia’s Hall. For any enquiries about this specific event please see the organiser contact information below.

Book Your free ticket Here

Make Music for Macmillan: Concert
2025-10-11 15:30 - 16:30
Relax and enjoy. Indulge and celebrate with an uplifting programme with Annemarie Klein (recorders), Eric Thomas (theorbo) and John Kitchen (harpsichord). All proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Support.

More info & book your spot here

Make Music for Macmillan: Play-Along Chamber Music Event
2025-10-11 10:00 - 14:00
Play Baroque chamber music with professional accompaniment in an historical concert hall. Book a playing or coaching session (25 minutes) with harpsichord virtuosos John Kitchen or Jan Waterfield. All instruments and voices welcome. Bring a friend or two and/or recruit a professional (Annemarie Klein, recorder) to join your ensemble.
Suggested minimum donation: £20

More info & book your spot Here

Weekly Tour
2025-10-08 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-09-17 14:00 - 15:00
Join David to learn about all things keyboard to bagpipes.

Book Your Tickets Here

CANCELLED Interactive Family Soundscape and Storytelling with mini Sound Bath
2025-10-04 11:00 - 12:30
After the success of the interactive family session in Lochend Woods (Dunbar), The Woodland Faeries are coming to the city of Edinburgh! Join us to listen, to explore and to co-create a soundscape-story using drums, shakers and other therapeutic instruments.
STORY-TIME: Bring your favourite teddy or toy to co-create a story together!
EXPLORE: Through expressive drawing and movement we will feel into the shapes these sounds may look like!
SOUNDSCAPE: Do you have an instrument of your own you would like to bring? Please do!
REFLECT/RELAX: Time out for a mini sound bath where you can lay down or sit and listen to soothing sounds.

Book Your Tickets Here

Halloween Family Trail
2025-10-01 10:00 - 2025-10-31 15:00
Join us this October for a free, fun Halloween-themed family trail!

Following the usual route around the museum, see if you can spot the 8 ghosts hidden throughout the galleries and answer each of their music related questions to win a Halloween themed sticker at the end!

Book Your Tickets Here

Doors Open Day
2025-09-27 10:00 - 17:00
Join us for musical performances and demonstrations highlighting music and musical instruments from around the world. These will happen on the hour from 10:00 – 16:00.
Short, guided tours will be given by the Curators on the half hour from 10:30 – 15:30.
Please note last entry is 16:30.
2025 Theme Architectural Heritage: Windows to the Past, Doors to the Future
Programme:
Concerts and Demonstrations:
10:00 – Peter Lawson
11:00 – John Kitchen
12:00 – Satyam Parida Rythym Workshop
13:00 – Edinburgh Mandolin Guitar Orchestra
14:00 – John Kitchen
15:00 – Brave Encounters
16:00 – Recorder Ensemble
Tours:
Tours of the museum will explore the history of St Cecilia’s Hall through the centuries.

The Edinburgh Quartet - St Cecilia's Lunchtime Series
2025-09-23 13:00 - 14:00
The Edinburgh Quartet launches a new series with the first of six concerts featuring Beethoven’s six op.18 string quartets. Since their founding in 1960, ‘Scotland’s string quartet’ has brought world-class classical music to every corner of Scotland and beyond. The quartet is thrilled to begin this collaboration with St. Cecilia’s Hall, Scotland’s oldest concert hall (1763), and looks forward to welcoming you to this special lunchtime series. The programme for the first concert will be as follows: Ludwig van Beethoven – string quartet op. 18 no. 1 Caroline Shaw – The Orangery, The Beech Tree Antonin Dvorak – string quartet op. 96, ‘American’

Book Your Tickets Here

Gong Bath at St Cecilia's Hall
2025-09-20 14:00 - 15:30
Experience the mesmerising sounds of gongs resonating in the unique setting in St Cecilia’s Concert Hall, Edinburgh.

Take some time out from the busy lives we live and simply ‘be’ with therapeutic sound. Typically, you lay down to receive the sound which enables your mind, body and senses to subtly release, inviting a sense of relaxation. There are spaces available to lay down, but if you prefer there are comfortable seating options available to attend as a viewer/listener.

* What is involved?

You may be guided with words to encourage your body, mind and senses to shift into a presence of being. People who have attended sessions in the past have felt this beneficial to prepare for the sound; however, on occasion this is not included if Melissa is intuitively guided to move directly with sound.

You will receive approximately 60 minutes of sound created by gongs, shruti box, voice and some other ambient sounds. This is an opportunity for you to immerse with sound and switch off to the outer world.

* What do I need to bring?

If you are laying down, you will be for approximately 60 minutes. Please be mindful of your own body and what may support it to be comfortable. Many people bring a yoga mat and something thicker to place on top of this; a cushion or pillow for your head; a blanket; eye-mask; and whatever else you feel may be an enhancement to help your body to be comfortable.

* Are you are a student?

This event opens a warm welcome to new and returning students studying in the beautiful city of Edinburgh with special tickets available.

* Are you a member of the public living in or visiting the city?

The invitation to attend is open to you also at the general or concession rate!

* Please note that all participants are required to be in silence with phones off or on silent/airplane mode. Talking/whispering is not permitted since this is a therapeutic experience, together we would like to embrace a collective agreement to support each other to cultivate this environment.

Book Your Tickets Here

Weekly Tour
2025-09-13 14:00 - 15:00
Join Jim to learn about the development of instruments over time.

Book Your Tickets Here

Instrumental Women of Fender
2025-09-04 18:00 - 19:00
Join us on Thursday, 4th September at St Cecilia’s Hall for one of our informal talk series lectures with historian Jayme Kurland. In 1946, the electric guitar company Fender began its operations in southern California and relied on a small group of Mexican American women to wire amplifiers, wind pickups, and assemble their products, among other tasks. In this talk, historian Jayme Kurland discusses who the women of Fender were, the unique skills that they brought to their work, and their impact on American popular music. Jayme Kurland is a Ph.D. candidate in history at George Mason University in Virginia, US. She has worked with musical instrument collections in curatorial positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Her dissertation project, “Instrumental Women: Amplifying Women’s Labor at Fender Electric Instruments Company (1946-1965),” examines the contributions of Mexican American women workers to the manufacturing of electric guitars and amplifiers in Fullerton, California. Jayme also founded the digital history website Instrumental Women which highlights the contributions of women to musical instrument making, past and present.

Book Your Tickets Here

Weekly Tour
2025-09-02 14:00 - 15:00
Join Claire to learn all about some of the oldest keyed instruments in our collection.

Book Your Tickets Here

Maths Week Scotland Family Trail
2025-09-02 - 2025-09-29
Join us this September for our brand new Maths Week Scotland Family Trail!

Following the usual route around the museum, see if you can spot Finn Finity hiding in the galleries and answer his musical maths questions! A special Maths Week Scotland badge awaits those who complete the trail.

Booking is free, however, we ask that you book your tickets in advance to avoid overcrowding. Donations are appreciated. Multiple time slots are available during Museum opening hours.

Book Your Tickets Here

Sounds of St Cecilia’s V: The Art of the Arranger
2025-08-23 15:00 - 16:00
The critically acclaimed team of McDonald and Kitchen perform virtuoso works for recorder with continuo and obbligato harpsichord by Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann and Corelli, which also exist in alternative versions. Ever commercially astute, Telemann often specified idiomatic alternative instrumentation for his works. Arranging Italian violin sonatas for recorder was almost a cottage industry, and Bach’s recycling of his own music resulted in masterworks such as a solo violin movement becoming a full-scale cantata. Featuring the 1709 Barton harpsichord. ‘Pure delight’ (Scotsman). In support of the FoSCH bursary fund.

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Attila the Stockbroker's Early Music Show
2025-08-22 14:00 - 15:00
Back by popular demand, the self-taught and self-proclaimed David Munrow of punk brings his Early Music Show to the beautiful surroundings of St Cecilia’s Hall for the fourth time. He explains how his fascination with early music came about, inspired by his first encounter with the humble recorder aged six. He’ll demonstrate the crumhorn, cornamuse, rauschpfeife, sausage bassoon and loads of different recorders, and play songs from his 2018 album Restoration Tragedy about the Levellers, Diggers and Ranters and their challenge to Cromwell during the Commonwealth after the execution of Charles I in 1649.

Book Your Tickets Here
