About Us
Limelight Music is a Scottish equalities professional music training and production company, specialising in high quality training and developmental opportunities for people with impairments.
Delivering inclusive projects for over 30 years, Limelight Music has a workforce which consists of Scotland’s first generation of professional musicians with impairments. These musicians work alongside established professional non-disabled artists, to train the next generation of young people from both mainstream and Additional Support for Learning (ASL) backgrounds, in inclusive music-making.
In addition to professional development and educational programmes, Limelight Music also has extensive experience in delivering fully inclusive, community music and research projects, for young people and vulnerable adults. Our workshop tutors include talented disabled musicians and educational arts practitioners who consider themselves as vital role models and mentors for future generations.
As the largest employer of disabled musicians in Scotland we have two main aims: –
1. To continue to positively address ongoing inequality by creating pathways to social inclusion, education and employment for people with impairments.
2. To further enhance employment prospects for disabled people by involving them in the design, preparation and delivery of early intervention music projects within schools and inclusive community programmes.
Our workshop tutors include talented disabled musicians and educational arts practitioners who consider themselves as vital role models and mentors for future generations.
History and Background to Limelight Music
In 1989, as part of the build up to Glasgow becoming the European City of Culture, Gordon Dougall, Limelight’s Artisitic Director, was employed as musical director and composer on City (written by John McGrath, directed by Alan Lyddiard, commissioned by Bob Palmer for Glasgow City Council).
While working on this production, Gordon observed that a number of people with disabilities were brought into the project very late in the process, giving them less opportunity to participate fully.
In the course of the project Gordon recognised that the disabled participants needed specialised help and resources in order to be fully involved in music activities. The following year, Gordon raised money with help from the Orpheus Trust to create music courses specifically designed for disabled people. This later led to the formation of Sounds of Progress, a charity that specialised in being able to adapt existing educational techniques to devise a fully inclusive training programme for people with disabilities.
The charity changed its name to Limelight Music in 2010 on the advice of the in-house professional musicians with impairments who felt the company needed a new vision, direction and image as a building based music production and training organisation.
Limelight continues to follow our orignal visions and aims with the work we do today. We are still as passionate as we were then, about changing the way disabilities are viewed within the music industry.
GET INVOLVED!
For more information about volunteering, training opportunties with Limelight or any other enquiries, please contact us!