music as a universal language

After months of work behind the scenes and four days together in Dundee, Scotland, a 95-musician orchestra made up of Big Noise and YOLA musicians—plus 100 younger Big Noise members forming a choir—came together on stage at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall for the Festival’s Family Concert on August 16, 2026.

It was a beautiful moment. But even before they ever shared the stage, the young musicians from Scotland and Los Angeles had achieved something remarkable.

The first chapter of a Lullaby Project song is usually written in a room where strangers have just met. Professional composers sit beside a mother who has never written music before. A child wanders around the room, curious but unsure. Participants may speak through an interpreter. Others may communicate more through gestures than words. At first, there are introductions, hesitant smiles, and long pauses. There is no score, no lyrics, no expectation of what the music should become. 

Ron Davis Alvarez, Director of The Dream Orchestra in Gothenburg, Sweden, was nominated as one of the five finalists in the 2024 CNN “Heroes” contest sponsored by the United States-based multinational Cable News Network (CNN). The contest features “inspiring people who have found unique ways to help others,” and aims to elevate awareness of inspirational work by people around the world.

The Ensemble Executive Editor Patrick Scafidi recently interviewed Ron via email.