Welcome to the website of the Blue Light Symphony Orchestra, the UK's only orchestra for all Emergency Services personnel. Our players are drawn from a wealth of talent hidden inside the UK's Police Forces, Fire Brigades and Ambulance Services, the military and other emergency services such as Mountain Rescue, Cave Rescue and the RNLI. We are a registered charity whose aims are to promote and support music-making in the emergency services to aid mental well-being and to promote the use of music therapy to treat severe mental health problems such as PTSD, chronic stress and anxiety. Help us help the emergency services community by donating now!
If you wish to support us financially, please plick this link to donate.
Upcoming Events
Joint Emergency Services Concert - London - 17th May 2025
Join us for our first ever joint emergency services concert at Holy Trinity Chirch. Sloane Square, London.
We are joining forces with the Metropolitan Police Choir, the London Fire Brigade Choir and the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir for and evening of unforgettable music. Tickets are just £12.50 for an adult and £6 for a child under 11. Babies go free. Buy your tickets here now!
Summer Workshop Weekend - Rite of Spring - London - 28/29 June 2025
If you want to be involved in this epic weekend, fill in the form here.
Workshop in Bath - 19th July
The way we work is that the workshops are advertised, people apply to take part and then we select people about 6 weeks before the workshops date. Apart from strings, we only have one player per part so places will be limited. We select people based on their association with the emergency services, who applied first and also take into consideration if people have had a place at another workshop recently.
Apply to take part here.
Concert to Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the International Police Association - Guildford
15th November 2025
The International Police Association is a friendship organisation for members of the police, serving or retired, founded in 1950 by Arthur Troop. It has over 369,000 members in 68 countries. 2025 is the 75th anniversary and we are taking part in a concert at Guildford Cathedral to celebrate this anniversary.
About the Orchestra
We are a registered charity in England and Wales, number 1184720. Our Orchestra provides opportunities for musicians from across the emergency services to come together and play music but we are also expanding our work in the following two areas:
- Encourage more local music-making in the emergency services by providing start-up grants and advice to anyone wishing to start a local choir or instrumental group where the majority of participants are emergency services personnel.
- Work with leading Music Therapy providers to make MT available to emergency services personnel to treat PTSD, anxiety and stress.
Visit the charity page for more information and to donate.
The main orchestra meets for a day-long workshop once a term. Emergency workers often find that shift work prevents them from being able to commit to the weekly rehearsals of a traditional orchestra which means that they have stopped playing music regularly since starting their careers. This means they are unable to enjoy the scientifically proven mental health benefits of group music making. The BLSO removes this barrier by providing workshops which require no regular commitment and our success can be measured by the fact we have over 300 emergency services musicians on our mailing list. We are also working with the UK's leading Music Therapists to research and develop a Music Therapy treatment program for emergency workers suffering from stress and anxiety-related disorders. Find out more about Music Therapy and what we are doing on the Charity page.
Please go to the Join us! page if you would like to get involved.