As a powerful force for good, inclusive music is about breaking down barriers, equality and access. Here we highlight graduates and researchers who are transforming lives through ground-breaking work.
"Our graduates and researchers are transforming lives through ground-breaking initiatives in this area.” - Professor Zack Moir
Dr Kathleen Cronie, BMus (Hons) 2012, is a singer, conductor, voice teacher, and Musical Director of Loud & Proud, Scotland’s first LGBTQ+ choir. “As an active part of the LGBTQ+ community, at home and abroad, the choir believes in the power of music to build community,” she explains. More recently, Kathleen founded Singing Through and Beyond Menopause, a project supporting menopausal singers through group song sessions. Her innovation in this area saw her shortlisted for Arts Champion of the Year in the 2024 Glasgow Community Champion Awards.
“I also work as a voice coach offering gender affirming vocal training to trans people. My aim is to support people to stay engaged with singing and performing, whether that’s for work or pleasure,” she adds.
Michael Lambert, BMus 2010, is an industry executive who runs a music marketing agency and artist management company. He is also the director of not-for-profit organisation, Wide Events CIC, and has developed the award-winning international music convention, Wide Days, and the Off The Record youth initiative.
“Wide Events has a long-standing commitment to inclusivity, hosting the UK’s first gender-balanced international music conference, supporting LGBTQ+ artists, and partnering with disabled charity Attitude Is Everything,” Michael comments. Off The Record brings together 16-25s getting started in music: “It offers advice, support and networking and is delivered entirely by music professionals from the same age group as the attendees.”
Beth Karp, MA Music 2022, is a songwriter, composer, and producer who is currently a PhD researcher pursuing interdisciplinary research into sound, trauma, psychology, and gender-based violence. “I’m working to contribute to broader conversations on the role of the arts in social justice and mental health,” Beth explains.
In a ground-breaking project with Scottish Women’s Aid, Beth has designed and delivered workshops with women who have experienced domestic abuse, drawing on the therapeutic effect of engaging in music making and storytelling using found sounds. “This project has been both highly challenging and rewarding,” she comments, “yielding significantly impactful results on post-crisis support for abuse survivors, with potential to reach and support more people.”
Joni Lindsay, BA (Hons) 2010, has implemented innovative, inclusive music and education projects in Glasgow for several years as Manager at the charity musicALL and as a freelance Music Practitioner in ASL schools. “At musicALL I worked with disabled and neurodivergent young people across a range of music making activities,” Joni explains. “Through music tuition and performance opportunities I enabled young people to develop their musical ability and showcase their talent, building the confidence of participants while also changing people’s perceptions of disability.”
Now, as General Manager for Chamber Music Scotland, she is working to “progress equalities, diversity, and inclusion practices within Scotland’s classical music sector” as she develops the organisation.
Sace Lockhart is currently completing a PhD. He is a Project Manager of Musicares, the first national music mentoring project for care experienced young people in Scotland.
“We use music as a therapeutic tool to support the wellbeing of young people,” Sace explains. Currently, delivered across 29 local authorities in Scotland, Musicares offers free, participant-led sessions. “Most recently, we’ve been working with unaccompanied asylum seekers in Scotland with with Barnardos ‘Ubuntu’ project,” he adds. “We hope to increase their wellbeing, community connection, and provide an opportunity for them to look positively at the future.”
Arianna Ranieri is a professional violist and PhD researcher. She launched Community Instrumental Music Service for Rural Scotland (CIMSRS) as part of her PhD, offering accessible (cost-free) violin and viola lessons to adults in rural areas. Through CIMSRS, she taught participants how to play an instrument, building their confidence so that communities of enthusiastic players have formed.
The project ran in Millport, Auchtermuchty, and Glencoe, where “many of the CIMSRS participants had no previous experience of playing music,” Arianna explains. “Living in a rural area shouldn’t be a barrier to engaging with music. So, I hope that CIMSRS might become a sustainable model for growing self-supporting musical communities in rural areas.”