Kate Whitley is a producer, composer and pianist. Based in London she is probably best known as co-Artistic Director of ‘Multi-Story’ (2011-present) an orchestra which began life performing in a disused multi-storey car park in Peckham. The project came from her desire to create events which were more stimulating than traditional concerts, challenging expectations and bringing high-quality art to new audiences.
In addition to performing at Bold Tendencies in Peckham every summer to audiences of more than 1,500, The Multi-Story Orchestra tours schools and runs community engagement projects. Their 2015 appearance at The Aldeburgh Festival, in a Car Park in Ipswich, was hailed as ‘a remarkable feat’ ***** (The Telegraph).
Kate has worked as 2013-4 Music Fellow at Rambert Dance Company and 2015 New Music Programmer at Kettles Yard Art Gallery. In 2014 she wrote The Cruel Cut in collaboration with poet Sabrina Mahfouz as part of the campaign to Stop FGM in UK. Her 2014 piece Alive for children’s choir and orchestra won a 2015 BASCA Award. Her 2016 projects include Flight with choreographer Malgorzata Dzierzon for Rambert Dance Company and an opera about two children who get trapped in a zoo overnight with Sabrina Mahfouz for Blackheath Children’s Opera. She is a 2014 Borletti Buitoni Trust Special Award Winner and her music has been performed across the UK and Europe and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.