About
Multi-Story Orchestra
Making music. Telling stories. Bringing people together.
“Multi-Story is a place where you can be who you want to be”
Multi-Story Orchestra brings together professional musicians and young people to create powerful new orchestral works that tell real stories and challenge systemic inequity.
Our youth-led approach puts young people at the heart of the creative process, working alongside professional artists to write music, share their stories and shape performances that challenge systemic inequity and open up new possibilities for orchestral music.
From grime and gospel to classical music and Afrobeat, we bring together different sounds, perspectives and communities, driven by the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to experience and shape orchestral music.
REMIXING SOUNDS
AND STORIES
Every Multi-Story performance begins with the people making it.
Each year, we bring together a group of Young Creatives for a year of intensive music-making alongside professional musicians, composers and music directors.
Through workshops, songwriting sessions and rehearsals, they develop their skills in composition, performance and collaboration, learning from experienced artists while exploring their own musical ideas and influences. Along the way, they build confidence, discover new creative possibilities and gain first-hand experience of bringing an original production to life.
Together, they create ambitious new orchestral works rooted in their own stories and experiences before sharing their work in live performance venues.
Young Creatives are the heart of Multi-Story Orchestra
Every year, young people aged 14–18 bring their ideas, experiences and musical influences into the room, working alongside professional artists to write original music and shape performances.
They make music that speaks to them, develop their skills and become part of a creative community that grows with them.
It all started in a peckham car park
In 2011, composer Kate Whitley and conductor Christopher Stark brought Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring to a multi-storey car park in Peckham.
More than 1,500 people turned up.
Fifteen years later, we've performed at the BBC Proms, taken our music across the UK and as far as Salzburg, and created extraordinary new works with young people.
We're still exploring what's possible when more people get to shape orchestral music.
shaped by Our Creative Community
Our creative community brings together exceptional talent from across the music industry with artists who have grown through Multi-Story.
Many of our collaborators are former Young Creatives who return as professional performers, musicians and creative leaders, working alongside established and emerging artists from across the industry.
Together, they share skills, exchange ideas and create ambitious new music, nurturing the next generation of talent while continuing to grow our creative community from within.
