EDINBURGH.- The power of music to change lives is the subject of a new exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland. Sounds Global, created with the help of young volunteers, explores the personal stories of international musicians based in Scotland, looking at how music has shaped their identity and in some cases even provided a lifeline to a new future.

The exhibition, featuring video, objects and personal stories, is part of Stories of the World, one of the major projects at the heart of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Stories of the World is an innovative project that enables people of all backgrounds, from across the UK, to become 'curators' of the collections and objects held in museums, libraries and archives.

Volunteers Lauren Campbell, Lauren Knowles, Hannah Kyte, Caroline McGarry, Laura McLaren, Cathy Marsden and Justyna Wills were inspired to create the exhibition by the Performance and Lives Gallery at the National Museum of Scotland, which features musical instruments around the world. They worked closely with Museum staff to create an exhibition showing how music has shaped and enriched the lives of contemporary musicians in Scotland.

Laura Bennison, Community Engagement Officer, says: ‘Our volunteers have worked over many months to help create a moving and personal exhibition that reflects the vitality and diversity of Scotland’s music scene as well as the way music can change lives. They have experienced, first-hand, the complex process of developing an exhibition from scratch.’

The exhibition features stories of how music is central to Jethro Kinavuidi, who came to Scotland as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008; Valentina Montoya Martinez, whose family were refugees from Chile and Soom T, an experimental vocalist based in Glasgow. Tawona and Ernest Sitholé who came to Scotland from Zimbabwe, play traditional instruments including a mbira, which has been in their family for five generations. Jay and Lu Angel are international performers working with G-Code Project, ten young people who have been working at North Edinburgh Arts Centre to write, record and perform their own music influenced by hip hop, rap and other urban styles.