This presentation concerns lifelong learning through music. It focuses on the potential of returning to or beginning music later in life. It specifically examines the concept of transformation through music making for older adults and its enablers. The term “transformative” is identified as involving both epistemic and personal transformation (Paul, 2014) and an understanding of transformation through education builds on the work of Paulo Freire, from the seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed. An important aspect of transformation is a shift in perception: seeing things differently; gaining new perspectives on others; on current issues; or ways of being in the world: these shifts are potentially transformative. Music can be a conduit and enabler through the embodied experience of sharing a creative, aesthetic and emotional experience with others, and the associated empathy. In this paper, we reflect on a research project that invited older adults to share their experience of transformation and what they felt enabled this. Participants are from three UK community ensembles - a jazz orchestra, rehearsal orchestra and new music ensemble. Research comprised attending rehearsals and semi-structured interviews with 25 ensemble members either face to face or online. Participants were sent the transcripts and a narrative outlining the main themes to check and comment on. The analysis followed a reflexive thematic process as outlined by Braun and Clarke (2022) and the framework used was of ageing and transformation. Participants discussed enablers as acceptance; non-judgement; accessibility in the full sense of the word; and safe spaces. These enablers are the bridge builders that can allow people to participate and learn. Shared transformative experiences are of new self-perception and awareness; self-reflection; transformative moments; legacy; self-acceptance and integrity. Enablers of positive experiences of transformation for older adults are important aspects for community music facilitators to understand, including how they support lifelong learning. The transformative experiences identified by older participants are important in the last decades and years of life because they support acceptance and adaptation to ageing; integration with others; and the potential to achieve self-integration through looking back and reflecting on lives.