Week of Sound 2026 | Opening Concert - 900 Voices and the City Sings

This opening event brings together elements of two projects that celebrate Edinburgh as place and people through music and sound.

We invited audiences to join us for this special event followed by a reception after.

900 Voices is a spatial sound art installation by Zoë Irvine, Jules Rawlinson and Lindsay Perth exploring notions of belonging, connection and community, blending voices from hundreds of Edinburgh citizens.
The work was commissioned in 2024 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of Edinburgh’s St. Giles Cathedral. The work ran in the Cathedral throughout the Edinburgh International Festival in 2024 and was visited by over 3000 people. The work is restaged here in the ECA Sculpture Court, which has a similar acoustic character to the Cathedral.
Over 285 people from diverse areas, backgrounds and communities in Edinburgh were interviewed to produce an archive of conversations of over 80 hours of audio and the sound installation runs through a cycle of different ways of exploring, revealing and blending moments of this conversation material at the heart of the work. The 900 Voices installation places recorded conversations in conversation with one another and its listeners, creating a dynamic and evolving polyphonic soundscape.
The 900 Voices installation uses a variety of computer procedures to select, combine and place sounds in real-time. A computer programme makes new choices each time the work runs to search the archive of conversations for words and themes. Sometimes single words will emerge and at other times longer reflective sections allow listeners to encounter and engage with individual contributions. The installation works with the rhythms and tonality of conversation in more abstract ways too. Playful echoes, choruses of frozen speech and rippling phrases are generated, activating and celebrating the musical character of voice and the acoustic character of reverberant space.
The subject matter is broad, sometimes touching on difficult experiences. To talk about belonging it was useful to talk about not belonging too. You may hear fragments of personal experiences of prejudice and other challenges, as well as insights into belonging and connection. Please respect the listening experience of others.
900 Voices was created with support from St Giles Cathedral, Creative Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Napier University and The University of Edinburgh.

‘The City Sings’ composed by Dee Isaacs, is a collaboration between the Stockbridge and New Town Community Orchestra, directed and conducted by Louise Martin with Music in the Community at the University of Edinburgh and singers from across the city.

The words are adapted from Jon McGregor’s prose in his book If nobody speaks of remarkable things (2002).

The text draws us into a lyrical and rhythmic landscape and asks us to observe, remain still and listen.

In the music you will hear the early morning, the buses and cacophony of street life, and finally our ‘community’ coming together singing to celebrate our city.

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Host or Publisher Edinburgh College of Art