An electrifying new arts festival, powered by orchestral music.

Leave your expectations at the door: this is orchestral music reimagined for all the senses by world-class orchestras, dancers, visual artists, poets and MCs.

Multitudes 2025

Take in a dreamlike animation, featuring a cast of characters including Lenin and Stalin, alongside the symphony that inspired it, Shostakovich’s powerful and moving Symphony No.10, which premiered a few months after Stalin’s death. South African filmmaker and artist William Kentridge, who ‘never ceases to mesmerise’ (The Guardian), and whose blockbuster exhibition filled the galleries of the Royal Academy in 2023, joins forces with the Philharmonia Orchestra and world-famous conductor Marin Alsop.

FOR FANS OF: THE DEATH OF STALIN. SOVIET HISTORY. LAIKA STUDIOS ANIMATION.

Part of Multitudes (23 Apr – 3 May). An electrifying new arts festival, powered by orchestral music.

The ticket price includes a £2 venue restoration levy.

For ages 12+. Under-14s must be accompanied by an adult

Southbank Centre

Oh To Believe in Another World

D. Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93: Allegro

Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93: II. Allegro

William Kentridge

film

Film

London

Royal Festival Hall - Southbank Centre

Be in the room for a roof-raising performance mixing orchestral music with poetry and social commentary. Spoken word artist and rapper George the Poet (creator of the multi-award-winning Have You Heard George's Podcast?) joins forces with Chineke! Orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black and ethnically diverse musicians.

FOR FANS OF: POLITICS. STORYTELLING. HAVE YOU HEARD GEORGE’S PODCAST?

Part of Multitudes (23 Apr – 3 May). An electrifying new arts festival, powered by orchestral music.

The ticket price includes a £2 venue restoration levy.

R.I.S.E.

George the Poet

Gigs

Queen Elizabeth Hall - Southbank Centre

Enter a musical time warp where sound resonates across the ages as Manchester Collective, an ‘innovative genre-bending ensemble’ (Manchester Wire) team up with electronic musician Clark and choreographer Melanie Lane for a performance merging the worlds of dance, classical and contemporary music.

FOR FANS OF: ELECTRONIC MUSIC. AKRAM KHAN. ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER. RADIOHEAD.

Part of Multitudes (23 Apr – 3 May). An electrifying new arts festival, powered by orchestral music.

The ticket price includes a £2 venue restoration levy.

Refractions

Clark - Medicine (feat. Thom Yorke)

Clark - Medicine

Shostakovich’s defiant Symphony No.7 was written as Hitler’s armies surrounded the city of Leningrad and bombs rained down on a starving population. Here, the ‘transcendental’ (The Arts Desk) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs the powerful piece to an immersive three-channel film conceived by Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov and video artist Ilya Shagalov, capturing the resilience of the human spirit.

FOR FANS OF: POLITICAL ACTIVISM. CULT CINEMA. IMMERSIVE FILM.

Part of Multitudes (23 Apr – 3 May). An electrifying new arts festival, powered by orchestral music.

The ticket price includes a £2 venue restoration levy.

Symphony of Shadows

Dig into Birmingham’s grime and hip-hop scenes as, together with Punch Records, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra brings together some of the best artists making music in the city. Look out for a stellar line-up including Lady Leshurr, Jaykae, Big Dog Yogo, Brixx, C4, CreezOn, Mayhem NODB, Pressure0121, RoxXxan, SafOne, Sox, T.Roadz, Trappy and Trilla.

FOR FANS OF: GRIME. HIP-HOP. FIRE IN THE BOOTH.

Part of Multitudes (23 Apr – 3 May). An electrifying new arts festival, powered by orchestral music.

The ticket price includes a £2 venue restoration levy.

For ages 16+

LEGACY

Jaykae - Moscow

Lady Leshurr - Queen's Speech 4

Brixx

Mayhem NODB

PRessure0121

Roxxxan

SafOne

Bristol

Southbank Club

Grab some comfy footwear and create an interactive musical soundscape on the streets of London – the perfect way to engage all your senses and get your steps in. A bespoke app guides you as you explore the city, and plays one of 11 parts of the symphony by composer Huang Ruo. Your path, and who you meet on the journey, shapes the symphony itself, meaning no two performances are ever quite the same. The experience ends in a full, live orchestral performance of the piece in the Royal Festival Hall by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Commissioned by Factory International.

FOR FANS OF: INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES. POKEMON GO. UPLIFTING MUSIC.

Part of Multitudes (23 Apr – 3 May). An electrifying new arts festival, powered by orchestral music.

The ticket price includes a £2 venue restoration levy.

City of Floating Sounds

Huang Ruo, Liang Zhang & Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra - Shattered Steps (Live)

Ruo Huang - Shattered Steps (Live)

Roll up, roll up! Aurora Orchestra, known for its ‘by heart’ performances where the music is played from memory, has put its head together with physical theatre company Frantic Assembly (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) for a new reimagining of The Carnival of the Animals. Find out what happens when the performers begin to stage a rebellion...

FOR FANS OF: PHYSICAL THEATRE. CABARET. LONDON ZOO. WEDNESDAY ADDAMS.

Part of Multitudes (23 Apr – 3 May). An electrifying new arts festival, powered by orchestral music.

The ticket price includes a £2 venue restoration levy.

For ages 7+

Carnival

Camille Saint-Saëns - Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: The Swan

Hungarian National Philharmonic & Andras Korodi - Carnival of the Animals: XIII. The Swan

theatre

Theatre

Collection

Multitudes 2025