What Is Love? Capturing The Ecstasy And The Agony Of The Most Human Of Emotions
Love In Many Forms
Premiere: 7.00pm, Thursday 7th August
Second Performance: 7.00pm, Friday 8th August
Venue: Bold Tendencies, Peckham
Tickets: From £6.00
Booking: Available via Dice (dice.fm/artist/multi-story-orchestra-q5gwp)
“Young peoples’ creativity and perspective, amplified.”
Earlier this month, the Multi-Story Orchestra made its long-awaited return to Bold Tendencies for its first production of the year and launch of its 2025 programme. STUCK, which dramatised the struggle of two Peckham residents as their community was threatened with displacement, was met with unreserved, universal acclaim. As beautiful as it was devastating, audience responses were to highlight the urgent and contemporary nature of the production which spoke on issues of collective concern with clarity and emotional depth.
“Outstanding, tear-jerking, relatable, important.”
For those newly acquainted with Multi-Story Orchestra, it’s easy to observe the professionalism and maturity of the production and assume it was created by those advanced in age and experience. In actual fact, and what is known to those familiar with MSO productions, such quality is instead reflective of the incredible precocity of the Orchestra’s Young Creatives, whose creative talent and sensitivity to subject matter truly defy expectation. They are central in the creative process, initially in their choice of subject matter and then in their songwriting process, which is at all times collaborative and draws from collective personal experience. This being so, it should come as no surprise that MSO productions reflect the ideas and concerns of the youth today, grounded in contemporary realism and elevated by an orchestral score.
It should come as no surprise that MSO productions reflect the ideas and concerns of the youth today, grounded in contemporary realism and elevated by an orchestral score.
The Orchestra’s latest production, a multi-facetted exploration of the ecstasy and the agony of love, is another work created according to this paradigm. Audiences can expect to hear songs dedicated to the various forms of love - and non-love - which mark our relationships and define our lives. Central to the musical is the idea that love does indeed manifest in a plurality of ways, and that a recognition of this important. In a fashion long-associated with Multi-Story, the performance will begin with musicians dispersed around the space - the expansive top floor of a multi-storey car park - before all players come together for a united performance with the full orchestra.
If Multi-Story Orchestra’s Young Creatives excel like adults in the professional sense, in Love In Many Forms they do so while drawing from their positionality as young people. Where else but in youth are all forms of love equally apparent? Consider Family Love (Song 3), informed by experiences of connection with parents and siblings. Or Self Love (Song 4), responding to the isolating challenges of modern life and social pressure. What about Toxic Love (Song 5), based on forming unhealthy attachments due to immaturity or inexperience? Finally consider Lost Love (Song 2), and the adage that the first heartbreak is always the most painful. What’s ultimately special about this production, much like others from Multi-Story Orchestra, is that young people, with their unique experiences and creative vision, have their ideas brought to life by an orchestra in the most profound and spectacular of ways.
If Multi-Story Orchestra’s Young Creatives excel like adults in the professional sense, in Love In Many Forms they do so while drawing from their positionality as young people.
Love In Many Forms was created by The Multi-Story Orchestra:
Lewis Daniel (Composer and Orchestrator)
Dupri McKoy (Songwriter)
Hannah Richardson (Pianist)
The Young Creatives: Dilhan Abaywardana, Ayomide Abina, Maya Lawrence, Gracious Martins, Favour Oboh, Carmen Ruby Madden Redstone, Imani Kelisia Samuels, Kedar-Re Thompson and La'Maia Anae Lovelle Blake Walsh
Love In Many Forms is performed by:
Yshani Perinpanayagam - Music Director
Dupri McKoy - Choir Leader
Young Creatives: ****Dilhan Abaywardana, Ayomide Abina, Maya Lawrence, Gracious Martins, Favour Oboh, Carmen Ruby Madden Redstone, Imani Kelisia Samuels, Kedar-Re Thompson and La'Maia Anae Lovelle Blake Walsh
Pena Yeray (Flute)
Jin Thireault (Clarinet)
Lewis Daniel (Saxophone)
Rebecca Toal (Trumpet)
Yusuf Narcin (Trombone)
Chris Clarke (Harp)
Elsa Bradley (Percussion)
Hannah Richardson (Piano/Synth)
Donal Pywell (Electric Bass)
Marcus Cumberbatch-King (Steel Pan)
The Multi-Story Orchestra
The Multi-Story Orchestra creates powerful new musical theatre performances inspired by real life stories. Bringing together choral and orchestral music with rap, gospel and storytelling, their work has been widely acclaimed for its originality and authenticity.
"The response was ecstatic, and it deserved to be" – The New York Times.
By placing our Young Creatives at the heart of our creative process, Multi-Story opens the door to voices unbound by convention. Its works are a testament to the power of collective creation, and it creates new musical performances that are relevant, fresh, and rooted in real lives.
“The future of music is emerging in a municipal car park” - The Times
Resident at Bold Tendencies in Peckham, South London, The Multi-Story Orchestra has pioneered experimental ways to create and present orchestral music since 2011. Highlights include the first BBC Proms performance from a car park in 2016 and performances across the UK, in car parks from Birmingham to Portsmouth. The orchestra now regularly performs at the Southbank Centre and Fairfield Halls, and in 2024 won a prestigious RPS Award for its moving performance piece The Endz, which was then performed at Salzburg State Theatre in Austria in 2025. Multi-Story Orchestra became an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation in 2023.
For further information on the Orchestra and their upcoming events, please visit their website, multi-story.org.uk/upcomingevents.
