Kate runs the Multi-Story Orchestra, which was founded in 2011. The orchestra,which performs in car parks and creates extraordinary performances, telsl stories that unleash creativity; the idea is to escape traditional concert halls and make music in varied and exciting spaces. They broadcast the first ever BBC Proms performance from a car park in 2016, and have also performed in other car parks around the UK-in Gloucester, Ipswich, Birmingham, Portsmouth and more. The performances bring together amassed choirs and instrumentalists. The Times said “forget fusty concert halls, the future of music is emerging in a municipal car park”.
She composed a piece called ‘Alive’ to words by poet and spoken word artist Holly McNish. You can watch below:
For International Women’s Day 2017 Kate was commissioned by the BBC to write a piece called Speak Out to words by Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai. The work uses words from Malala’s 2013 speech to the United Nations on the right of every girl to education and sets them to an orchestra, choir and children’s choir, the first words being “Let us pick up our books and pens”, sung by children’s voices.
Her new piece Falling, commissioned by the BSO and Sage Gateshead, is cast in three sections which are played virtually without any break. The piece has been written especially for the two ensembles (BSO Resound and RNS Moves), the musicians of BSO Resound comprising flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and LinnStrument: and those of RNS Moves are violin, viola, cello, piano, recorders, trumpet and Headspace . Within the framework of the piece Kate allows elements of choice to the players, for example when they enter and at what tempo and dynamics. Overall, there’s a flowing freedom to the character of the music.
Kate Whitley
Kate’s work has been widely acclaimed. She won a 2018 Critics Circle Award and has been described as a composer with “a strong, distinctive voice who, without compromising, communicates directly to a wide audience, within the concert hall and beyond”. She is a 2018 Bortletti-Buitoni Trust Special Award Winner and a 2013 Sky Academy Futures Fund winner. She is also a 2021 Clore Leadership Fellow. The Times said “a generation tainted by nothing except enthusiasm, daring, virtuosity and idealism is blazing onto the scene. Kate Whitley is typical of this bold new breed”
You can hear the world premiere of Kate’s new piece Falling on 22 February at Lighthouse Poole.