To celebrate the reopening of St Cecilia's Hall: Concert Room & Music Museum we joined forces with The Fruitmarket Gallery and Red Note Ensemble to create a project that explored the sounds of historic musical instruments through old and modern compositions. The project culminated in a concert at The Fruitmarket Gallery featuring the Red Note Ensemble playing instruments from our collection with music written specially for the instruments. The concert ended with a new commission from composer Jim Sutherland, and was funded by the University of Edinburgh Innovation Fund and Museums Galleries Scotland Partnership Fund. 

The instruments that were played from the collection were a Kuhlo Horn made by Ernst David in Bielefeld, Germany around 1920; Tenor Wagner Tuba made by Gebr. Alexander in Mainz, Germany which was one of a set of four Wagner tubas purchased by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1934; a Trompe Dauphine made by Le Brun, Paris in the 1720s; Natural/valve Horn Orchestral horn made by Johannes Gottfried Kersten, Dresden, Germany, circa 1830; a Cavalry Trombone Made by Adolphe Sax in Paris around 1869; Nouveau Saxhorn Basse made by Adolphe Sax in Paris in 1870 and a Jumbo Sousaphone made by Buescher and Company, Elkhart, Indiana, USA in 1928.