“Fresh from a car park in London, “the future of music is emerging in a municipal car park.” The Times.
The Multi-Story Orchestra are bringing their acclaimed music theatre show The Endz to Salzburg this spring. Described by Salzburg State Theatre as a hip-hopera, The Endz features classical orchestration, choral singing, rap, and spoken word to tell a story rooted in present-day real-life experience.
Created by The Multi-Story Orchestra and inspired by the real-life stories of their young artists, The Endz is set against the backdrop of an inner-city London neighbourhood and explores themes of racism, identity, and community. This new production at Salzburg State Theatre is a collaboration between The Multi-Story Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra, and a creative team including director Patricia Pfisterer and conductor Leslie Suganandarajah.
A particularly special show in The Endz run will take place on 1st June, when three of the original London young artists—Flame Rhoden, Toni Olabanji, and Dupri Mckoy—will join their Austrian counterparts on stage for a special performance of the piece. This will be a true full-circle moment both for The Multi-Story Orchestra and the young people involved, and marks the first international showing of the Orchestra’s unique and powerful work. The Endz was inspired by a real-life tragedy: the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Malcolm Mide-Mandariola in south London in 2018. Malcolm was unarmed and attempting to help a friend who was being threatened. His death deeply affected his community and peers. In response, his classmates collaborated with composer Kate Whitley and writer Abi Falase from The Multi-Story Orchestra to develop a new artistic work dedicated to his memory.
After its debut performance in 2022, The Endz was programmed as part of the opening weekend of the 2023 Southbank Centre’s Classical season. In 2024, it won the prestigious RPS Impact Award. The Endz takes place in a fictional but recognisable part of London, referred to colloquially as "the ends"—a term often used to describe marginalised urban areas. The central characters, Reece and Imani, navigate a social environment marked by limited opportunities and structural inequality, with their friendship tested by differing strategies for survival and self-expression. The Endz invites audiences to consider how place, identity, and history shape human experience—and how music can serve as a space to process grief, express hope, and come to terms with change.
While the narrative of The Endz is specific in its cultural and geographical setting, it deals with broader themes relevant across contexts—particularly questions of representation, power, and how young people respond to the conditions in which they grow up. The composition integrates elements from different traditions and genres. The orchestration is written for full classical ensemble, performed in Salzburg by the Mozarteum Orchestra. Vocal sections include both soloists and choir. In parallel, the libretto features original rap lyrics and spoken dialogue performed by vocalists and young artists with backgrounds in hip hop and urban music. In developing the piece for Salzburg, the script was redeveloped by the young Austrian artists involved to include geographic and linguistic specificities relatable to their lives growing up in Salzburg.
The Endz does not follow a conventional format, but it retains key operatic principles: the story is told through music; characters express emotion and narrative through sung and spoken text. The result is a hybrid form that draws on opera’s structural depth while using language and music from other contemporary styles. Limited tickets for The Endz are available on the venue’s website, salzburger-landestheater.at. The Multi-Story Orchestra has already released its programme for 2025, and the public is warmly invited to attend any one of their upcoming shows, all blending contemporary realism with a modern orchestral score. This programme is available to browse at multi-story.org.uk/events.
Performance Details
Title: The Endz – A Hip-Hopera created by The Multi-Story Orchestra, Kate Whitley & Abi Falase
Presented by: Salzburg LandesTheatre with the Mozarteum Orchestra
Location: Salzburger Landestheater, Schwarzstr. 22, 5020, Salzburg
Dates:
Saturday 24th May, 7pm – Austrian Premiere [Sold Out]
Monday 26th May, 10am – School Performance
Wednesday 28th May, 7:30pm
Friday 30th May, 10am – School Performance
Sunday 1st June, 7pm
Tuesday 3rd June, 10am – School Performance
Wednesday 4th June, 10am – School Performance
Thursday 5th June, 10am – School Performance
Saturday 14th June, 7pm
Language: Performed in German with some hybrid German and English shows
Tickets: Available Here
