159: The Endz with Flame, Prince and the Multi-Story Orchestra

Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast

The Endz is a production mounted by school children in South London, supported by the Multi Story Orchestra, a radical performance group well-known in the industry for mounting live performances in a former multi story car park (now known as Bold Tendencies) in Peckham.

Since its Proms appearances in 2016 and 2017, the team behind the orchestra led by Kate Whitely has sought out new ways to enhance cultural experiences for the community its made its home in.

But Multi Story’s vision and method feel slightly different from convention when you hear from two of their teenage collaborators Flame and Prince talk about The Endz – a musical setting of a play a group of teenagers created themselves in response to violent crime in their neighbourhood.

The word is collaboration rather than education and outreach. Co-creation too might be a good word. And the other thing that’s important to stress is how Multi Story are helping young creative talent make the music they want to make rather than what the orchestra thinks they ought to be making.