Making Music Together with Live Music Now took place in March 2026, making a real difference to feelings of isolation and improving the mood of the unpaid dementia carers who took part. It also offered meaningful ways for them to engage in activities and connect with the people they care for, offering relief from the stresses and challenges of the dementia living and caring experience.
“The session filled a normally stressful hour of the day. It was able to engage myself and my husband who has Alzheimer’s” Participant in Making Music Together March 2026
Making Music Together was a series on four online events combining live online music concerts with practical tips and resources for making music at home, targeted at unpaid dementia carers and those they support. It was designed and delivered with inclusion and access in mind, so they could join in and enjoy the events together. Thank you to the Julia Rausing Trust, The Rayne Foundation and the Linbury Trust who’s generous funding made it possible.
This project is a response to the huge unmet need in our target audience. An estimated 982,000 people are currently living with dementia in the UK, a figure projected to reach 1.4 million by 2040. About one in eleven people over the age of 65 live with dementia.
Of those formally diagnosed, approximately 169,500 (34%) currently live in a care home setting. However, the majority — around two-thirds — continue to live in the community, in their own homes, often supported by unpaid family carers. This community-dwelling population is largely underserved by existing music and wellbeing services.
At the same time, there is growing persuasive independent evidence that taking part in person-centred active music- making has benefits for the carer and cared for, including responding to cognitive decline, improving mood, reducing anxiety and distress, and supporting carer wellbeing and risk of burnout.
We reach these audiences through our in‑person and programmes and identified the need to bring the proven benefits of person‑centred live music into people’s homes via online, live‑streamed sessions.
Delivering Making Music Together
The events ran at the same time every Thursday throughout March 2026. Each session showcased different Live Music Now musicians performing engaging sets that blended uplifting and relaxing pieces, mixing the familiar with the new. The programme was varied, thoughtfully balanced, and consistently high quality.
“Reminded us of another tune to add to mums playlist, ‘Hey Jude’ was significant tune from our families past”
Throughout the webinar series we had concerts from Alis and Carys Duo (flute & harp duo), Conor Lamb & Deirdre Galway (Irish folk duo), Dovetail Duo (folk), Jamabalaya Duo (blues/folk)
After each live concert, David Jones — an experienced music‑in‑dementia‑care artist with Live Music Now — led practical music‑making sessions. He shared ideas, tips and suggestions for making music at home, along with pointers to free online resources such as Take Note (from the University of Roehampton and Sounds of Intent) Playlists For Life and BBC Rewind.
Our data shows a total live audience of 394 people across the four events. This included 339 people living with dementia and 55 unpaid carers.
Engagement was strong from both care homes and unpaid carers’ homes, with some groups of up to 20 people watching together. In many cases, people living with dementia and their carers watched side by side.
In addition to the live audience, more people continued to engage by watching the recordings online, and many participants stayed with the series throughout its duration.
“Listened to Otley group again next day to lift my spirits whilst washing up. Have forwarded link to mums paid carers to follow up and enjoy again. Mum tapping. Liked idea of instruments enhancing mums movements. Appreciated getting video when we had to miss a week”
In total, 625 people signed up and have all received a link to recordings of the live events.
Impacts of taking part in Making Music Together
Evaluation evidence told us about important impacts for participants, with 33 returns of feedback questionnaires.
94% of respondents said that taking part made them feel less isolated or more connected to others, with the events building a sense of connection and community. Each session, the participants had the opportunity to join in via the live webinar chat for ongoing conversation and interaction between themselves and the musicians.
Taking part in the sessions improved mood and promoted relaxation, offering both carers and those they care for a valuable moment of emotional support amid the challenges of caring. Feedback shows that 94% of respondents experienced an improvement in mood, and 91% felt the session made a positive difference to their day.
“The session had a lovely calming effect on me, taking a lot of my stress and weariness away”
“The session filled a normally stressful hour of the day. It was able to engage myself and my husband who has Alzheimer’s”
“Very relaxing for dad main carer. Mum tapped a long a little but was sat relaxed holding hands. Gave us something to do.”
The sessions helped build resilience in caring relationships by creating opportunities for new, meaningful musical interactions. Participation was encouraged and supported throughout, with practical guidance, tips and resources to help carers continue making music at home afterwards.
From the feedback, 94% of respondents said that the session encouraged them to join in (listening, singing, moving, or playing) and 87% said they enjoyed taking part together with the person they care for or their carer.
“We continued sharing music together after the session ended“
“My husband is non- verbal now but moved his feet in time with the music and seemed to be enjoying it”
“Andrew responded to the music by tapping his fingers and moving his feet which is a really good response for him”
In conclusion the first Making Music Together with Live Music Now was a successful and impactful series reaching people living with dementia and their carers, making a real difference to the experience on unpaid dementia care. We are now working to continue the series and create more regular activity. If you are interested in taking part or can link us to more unpaid carers please get in touch. [email protected]
