Homelessness Orchestra
2025
ASMF has worked with people experiencing homelessness for over 25 years. From May – July 2025 we embarked on a new project: an orchestra for people experiencing homelessness. Harnessing ASMF’s unique skills in creative empowerment to create an ensemble comprising musicians of all experience levels: from new performers living on the streets to ASMF’s principal players. The project engaged with 90 people experiencing homelessness, with 18 forming part of the orchestra, in which participants learned violins, brass, guitar and percussion and built toward a joyful musical performance for an invited audience. The project had profound impacts on the wellbeing of those who took part, built lasting bonds between new and experienced players, and established connections which now means a new group of audience members regularly attend ASMF’s concerts independently. ASMF is working on turning this into a year-round project from September 2026.
In May 2025, ASMF delivered its first tour of homelessness centres across London, offering music-making sessions to eight centres. Centres had different amounts of existing creative activity on offer to their service users: for some it was their first time making music, whilst others arrived with musical experience to share and were excited about the opportunity to make music again. Those who took part were transfixed by moments of musical performance by the professionals and remarked on their positive feelings after the sessions, including “feeling a spark” and a sense of excitement for continuing creativity.
A short video from a session at The Vineyard, Richmond.
A short video from a session at The Upper Room.
“Thank you for coming to our centre and helping to organise a lovely event. It was great to see our guests engage in this kind of activity, as we don’t do this kind of thing often enough. It would be great to have you back at some point in the future.”— Centre Manager
Those we met were invited to join a new project, concieved in response to disire we had heard for participants in our projects to engage in more “learning” style activity with more complex instruments. In a disused school on Amwell Street provided in-kind by partners Project Basecamp, people were invited to take part in our very first orchestra for people experiencing homelessness.
For the first time, the project brought together service users from multiple centres for the first time in a space managed by ASMF. Lasting 5 weeks, the project attracted 18 participants from 6 of the centres we visited on the tour, with people learning violins, brass (trumpet and baritone), guitars and percussion.
A short video from our first session.
A short video from the last rehearsal on the day of the sharing.
The project had profound impacts on the wellbeing of those who took part, built lasting bonds between new and experienced players, and established connections which now means a new group of audience members regularly attend ASMF’s concerts independently. ASMF is working on turning this into a year-round project from September 2026.
“Your work has made a tangible difference, not only in lifting someone from a place of despair but also in helping them reconnect with their strengths and potential: It’s not an exaggeration to say it has been life changing.”— Support worker of a participant
“I improved my drum playing through this project, and feel interested and motivativated in this program. It was a good program and really nice – this gave me opportunity to find my own talent. Thank you so much.”— Participant
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