Social prescribing – cellist Rebecca Knight on Music and Wellbeing

Picture: cellist Rebecca Knight and violinist Fran Barritt at a Music and Wellbeing Session at the Tessa Jowell Health Centre

City of London Sinfonia’s Music and Wellbeing sessions aim to bring people together to share an experience of music that is personal, allowing everyone to express their ideas and reactions. All voices are heard and valued.  We hope to help people realise that there are many ways to appreciate music and not one ‘correct’ way; you don’t need special knowledge.

In the sessions, we show how music can be a cue to think about wider meaningful ideas. It also offers a way for participants to check in with themselves without focussing on specific health worries or outcomes. Rhythm and listening are powerful tools for cultivating neutral, uncritical awareness of one’s breath, and doing these exercises in a group can result in a real feeling of togetherness.

We prioritise connection with participants by creating an atmosphere that is relaxed but focussed, keeping a nice balance of low-key chat, mindful exercises, playing music, and prompts for discussion and reaction. A body scan meditation early in the session can help people feel fully present while releasing tension.

When we play at Tessa Jowell, we choose pieces that demonstrate the wealth of music out there that participants can connect with. Allowing space for discussion after we play a piece of music often results in a surprising range of reactions. It’s important that we let any negative reactions be valid, building the understanding that everyone’s experience of music is different. It can help people feel more sure of what sort of music they want and need in their life and why.

Our sessions usually have a theme (for example, ‘tuning into layers of rhythm in our body and world’) that guides discussion through open questions related to music we’ve played. This approach feels safer than directly asking participants questions about their life history but still prompts people to share beautiful personal stories, often with some emotional weight, and this adds to a sense of connection within the group.

I have been practising meditation for the last six years, and I draw on practices from a range of different meditation teachers. Most of my practice is from Buddhist sources, but what I share in sessions is very neutral and not specifically from a Buddhist point of view.

Practising meditation has shown me the effectiveness of performing even really simple activities in a group, and this has encouraged me to dig into the core elements of our shared musical experiences. After years of leading interactive concerts in schools with the Lawson Trio (alongside fellow CLS member Francesca Barritt) and extensive workshopping experiences with City of London Sinfonia, what I’m always trying to remind myself is – can you make it simpler – what are the most crucial elements? Classical music is by definition so complex and evolved, that it can be powerful to remind yourself of the building blocks of why music has the effect that it does.

Togetherness is also very important in orchestral settings, and sharing how we connect with each other as colleagues is appreciated by participants in Music and Wellbeing sessions too.

Rebecca Knight, 2025

To learn more about our Music and Wellbeing sessions, visit our Social Prescribing page.