Jazz Scotland wants to ensure that a ethical community programme is a fully-embedded strand of all our festival work.

At its core, this aim is about making sure that Jazz Scotland, as a publicly-funded organisation, is as relevant as it can be for a wide range of people. We believe that we can develop exciting, deep, and ethical models of working with musical, geographic, interest-based, and cultural communities that recognises their assets and agency and supports them to achieve their musical/cultural goals.

We can do this through a range of approaches from the simple, but often valuable, ‘access-focused’ project where we provide better to what we already do, right through to acting as a catalyst and placing our skills, knowledge and resources at the service of communities to help them pursue their own cultural goals. 

Crucially, this work is not necessarily about creating pathways or pipelines to the professional sector (though that can certainly happen), but is about taking time to learn about and engage with communities and their musical ways on their own terms. To date, we have hired freelance Community Engagement Workers in Aberdeen and Dundee whose remit is to build relationships with various community organisations, groups, and individuals. They are working to understand the groups and their musical needs and desires, and subsequently working to co-produce events, activities, and ultimately, projects and programmes. Project ideas are developed together, and both parties work to secure the necessary funds and resources to realise the collaborative vision.

Below are some of great upcoming events from our festivals: