Music & Health

Two women standing up and singing from a sheet of paper

Music has the power to change lives. Since 2008, we’ve witnessed that first-hand as we’ve worked closely with NHS partners to aid people’s recovery from mental and physical illness.  

Our Music & Health programme, the longest-running programme of its kind, sees our Orchestra musicians head out across the region – visiting hospitals and medical facilities – to deliver performances and interactive music-making. We’re working to make sure that every person across Liverpool City Region can access top-quality music to benefit their health and wellbeing. Through live music, our musicians:  

  • Support people to live well through connection and community
  • Encourage confidence, helping people develop skills and take part
  • Integrate non-clinical approaches to improve health services 
A Music and Health session leader chats to a participant wearing a denim jacket and a blue cap
A blonde woman wearing glasses and an orange shirt chats and smiles with a woman wearing a floral shirt sat next to her in the audience
People think I am a different person these days. We cannot mend ourselves with medicine alone. That is why these courses are so important to me and many others. - Music and Health participant

To date, the programme has supported over 34,000 individuals. People in adult mental health facilities, people undergoing physical rehabilitation, perinatal care, cancer care, neurology and neurosurgery. Young people receiving treatment at Alder Hey. People living with dementia, brain injuries and learning disabilities. The scope and impact of our Music & Health programme has grown as we've developed this work over the past 18 years. That’s what earned us the Culture for Wellbeing Award at the Northern Music Awards.  

We’re passionate about taking this work into the community too. Through Mersey Care’s Life Rooms facilities we deliver workshops in local spaces, and here at the Phil, our Music Mondays social prescribing sessions have been giving people opportunities to connect and unwind through music for over ten years.  

And its impact...

91% of participants said they had experienced increased self-esteem

90% attended to meet others and boost their mood

86% said Music & Health improved their mood and supported everyday living

75% of participants said they had gained confidence

60% said the programme helped reduce anxiety

A man wearing a grey jumper holding a microphone and standing next to a musician playing the cello and another Music and Health participant playing the guitar
Three female musicians all with brown hair and wearing blue shirts playing the violin in a hospital waiting area
Together, the communities we work with, our NHS partners and our Orchestra musicians have developed a truly vital programme. Reaching out to individuals who are facing challenging times, our Music & Health programme offers confidence, new skills, joy and real hope for the future.  

We are enormously grateful to all our NHS partners: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Foundation Trust, The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.   

For more information about our Music & Health programme, contact learning@liverpoolphil.com.

Evaluation & Research

You can read a report published by Liverpool Philharmonic and the University of Liverpool to mark the programme's 15th anniversary here. It presents significant findings regarding how music improves the general health and wellbeing of individuals receiving care in hospitals and in the community. The report is drawn from 2022/23 studies by the University of Liverpool’s Professor Josie Billington PhD, Dr Jaqueline Waldock PhD  and Dr Melissa Chapple PhD, consultation with Royal College of Music Professor Rosie Perkins FHEA, FRSPH, HonRCM, and research by the University of Sunderland’s Professor Susanne Burns.   

Previous reporting on the Music and Health programme from 2008-2017 can also be found here.

We are a consortium member of the Arts4Us scaling up project with Edge Hill University, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.  

Liverpool Philharmonic is a partner with the University of Liverpool as part of The Centre for Health, Arts, Society & Environment.

Music and Health features in the National Centre for Creative Health’s 2023 Creative Health Review. 

In 2023- 2024, Music and Health musician Georgina Aasgaard was awarded Community Innovation Practitioner status, supported by Arts and Humanities Research Council, University of Northumberland and UKRI.