Kate Whitley (born 1989) is an English

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Career

She is classically trained and studied music at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. Her music is recorded by NMC Recordings and her debut release, ''I am, I say'' was released in 2017. It was described as "unpretentious and appealingly vigorous music" and "an excellent introduction to her sonic world". She won a

Borletti-Buitoni Trust The Borletti-Buitoni Trust () (BBT) was established as a charitable trust in 2002 to help young musicians throughout the world. The Trust assists classical instrumentalists, ensembles and singers in their early 20s and 30s to further develop their i ...

Special Award in 2014. Her music has been broadcast live on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Radio 3 and performed as part of the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

. In 2017, Whitley was commissioned by Radio 3 to compose a piece for

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

, setting the words of

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai (; , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani female education activist, film and television producer, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, ...

's 2013 speech to the UN. The piece, called ''Speak Out,'' was

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d on 8 March 2017 in the Hoddinott Hall in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, with the

BBC National Orchestra of Wales The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) () is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both ...

and Chorus of Wales alongside the children's choir Cor y Cwm, conducted by Xian Zhang. Her concert piece ''Sky Dances'', was commissioned by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and performed in the summer of 2018 at Trafalgar Square.

Sir Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British conductor with German citizenship. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Ratt ...

conducted the LSO and 70 young musicians from East London. The ballet ''Ignite'', written for

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the co ...

, toured the same year. In July 2022 a new oratorio, ''Our Future In Your Hands'' was performed at the Buxton Festival, with an orchestra of young musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music and a choir drawn from local schools. The text, by Laura Attridge, voices climate change concerns from the point of view of young people.

Multi-Story Orchestra

Whitley co-founded the Multi-Story Orchestra with

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Christopher Stark in 2011. The

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

's first performance was of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

's ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' in a

car park A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The project won the 2016

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

Music Award for Audiences and Engagement. The orchestra also works with school children and local community groups.

List of works

Solo/chamber works

* ''Duo'' for violin and viola * ''3 pieces for violin and piano'' * ''Five piano pieces'' * ''Two songs for clarinet and piano'' * ''Lines'' for string quartet

Orchestral

* ''Autumn Songs'' for 12 solo strings (7 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, bass) * ''Viola Concerto'' * ''Split'' for solo clarinet, solo percussion and strings * ''The Animals'' * ''Sky Dances''

Choral

* ''I am I say'' (words by

Sabrina Mahfouz Sabrina Mahfouz is a British-Egyptian poet, playwright, performer and writer from South London, England. Her published work includes poetry, plays and contributions to several anthologies. Education Mahfouz earned a BA degree in English Liter ...

) for soprano, bass, children's choir orchestra * ''Speak Out'' (words by

, written in support of the campaign for girls’ right to education) for children's choir,

SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...

chorus and orchestra * ''Alive (''words by Holly McNish) for children's choir and orchestra * ''The Cruel Cut'' (words by Sabrina Mahfouz, written in support of the campaign to stop FGM in the UK) for 4 sopranos, community choir including solo untrained voice, piano * * ''Our Future In Your Hands'', oratorio, words by Laura Attridge, Buxton Festival, fp 10 July 2022

Dramatic

* ''Paws and Padlocks'' (children's opera, libretto by Sabrina Mahfouz) * ''Unknown Position'' (libretto by Emma Hogan) * ''Ignite'', ballet (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitley, Kate 1989 births Living people Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English composers English women classical composers 21st-century English pianists 21st-century English composers 21st-century English women composers 21st-century English women pianists