The Untold Orchestra: Four Women

Johnny James, Managing Editor

Visit now

The Untold Orchestra: Four Women

29 April 2021

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

The Untold Orchestra
Book now

2021 is shaping up to be a big year for The Untold Orchestra – Manchester’s amorphous, hyper-collaborative orchestra for modern times. In the coming months, they’ll be hitting the stages of Escape to Freight Island, Manchester Jazz Festival, HOME, NIAMOS and The Blues Kitchen, where they’ll be collaborating with the likes of Skittles, 8 Gold Rings, and Mali Hayes, as well as performing a number of their renowned ‘icon shows’.

They’ve got one last streamed event up their sleeves, though, before they take to the stage again.

Four Women is a cross-artform collaborative piece between The Untold Orchestra and some of Manchester’s finest creatives. Using the narrative of Nina Simone’s classic ‘Four Women’, members of the orchestra will be joined by DJ Paulette, Shirley May (poet), Yemi Bolatiwa (vocals), Maisha Kungu (dancer) and Seren Marimba (contemporary circus performer) in a unique piece exploring the experiences of Black women within the creative industries and society at large. The music performed is composed by artists including Afrodeutsche, Errollyn Wallen, Jessie Montgomery and Daniel Bernard Roumain.

The performance will be followed by a live panel discussion featuring the creatives involved, hosted by the fabulous Jenna G. Together they’ll discuss the individual and collaborative process of investigating the four characters written about by Miss Nina Simone.

Focused on bringing the orchestral world to new audiences, The Untold Orchestra are one of Manchester’s finest ensembles, appearing in venues and facilitating projects across Manchester and further afield. Recent projects include their aforementioned series of icon shows focused on the lives of artists including David Bowie, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder and The Beatles, collaborations with artists including Grammy award-winning pianist and composer, Bill Laurance (Snarky Puppy), Manchester rapper Skittles, The Lottery Winners and community projects working with various groups in Hulme, Moss Side, Cheetham Hill and more.

Speaking on Four Women, Founder and director Sam Davies said:

“We’ve been incredibly excited to announce this really special project we’ve been working on. We’re thrilled to be able to collaborate with these incredible artists and after a year of ‘digital only’ projects, Four Women will be a beautiful end to a pretty challenging year. Following this we have loads of live shows (covid permitting) across Manchester and further afield and can’t wait to get playing to live audiences again.”

Where to go near The Untold Orchestra: Four Women

Hern Food
Leeds
Restaurant
Hern

This produce-driven bistro in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, prides itself on cooking with the only finest ingredients and his headed up by Cordon Bleu-trained chef Rab Adams.

Indie Makers
Leeds
Shop
Indie Makers

Indie Makers, located in Leads’ corn exchange, trades in art and gifts from independent makers across the UK.

Plant Point
Leeds
Shop
Plant Point

Plant Point is designed to help you bring the jungle into your urban or suburban space. The home of beautiful plants in Leeds.

Leeds
Restaurant
Eat Your Greens

Eat Your Greens is a vibrant, organic restaurant bringing a hint of European flair to the city’s plant-based dining scene.

Sela opened in 2004 with an idea to provide quality imported beers from around the world, fun cocktails to compliment the beer selections and a stage for the region’s finest and most talented musicians to play on.Over ten years later, we’re still all about the beer, cocktails, live music and pizza!We carry over a selection of over thirty different beers spanning the globe from Pickering with The Great Yorkshire Brewery’s Yorkshire Blackout, to New York with a selection from Brooklyn Brewery, and Belgium with longtime Sela favourite, Vedett.Our cocktails change regularly too. Our best-sellers are joined by fun, new offerings and our pizza menu is regarded as one of the best the city of Leeds has to offer.As for the live music, Sela has had not only the great and the good from the region. Local funksters, The New Mastersounds are regular visitors and we stage the amazing Mojah Reggae Band for their weekly Wednesday residency.  Our other long running programming incl
Leeds
Restaurant
Sela Bar & Pizzeria

Sela Bar is a cosy Leeds basement spot with live music, great drinks, and a cool, laid-back, atmospheric vibe.

Leeds Beckett SU
Leeds
Restaurant
Leeds Beckett Student Union

Leeds Beckett Student Union hosts big-name artists and supports students through events, live music, and a vibrant campus venue.

Located on Cardigan Fields Leisure Park, Vue Leeds Kirkstall is a nine screen cinema with almost 2000 seats. There's ample parking and the cinema is surrounded by various restaurants and entertainment facilities, making for a great evening out!

Watch the latest film releases and enjoy the industry-leading Sony 4K Digital screens, boasting spectacular picture quality, along with enhanced audio quality courtesy of Dolby 'Profound Sound'. Stepped SuperVue seating means you will never miss a second of the action while VIP seating guarantees you an extra touch of luxury whenever you want to upgrade.

Three of the nine screens showcase the newest 3D releases while Vue Classical brings the latest stage sensations to the big screen, and parents can save as they go with Family Tickets and Kids AM screenings offering great value for money.
Leeds
Cinema
Vue Cinema – Leeds Kirkstall Road

Located on Cardigan Fields Leisure Park, Vue Leeds Kirkstall is a nine screen cinema with almost 2000 seats. There’s ample parking and the cinema is surrounded by various restaurants and

Restaurant 2
Leeds
Café or Coffee Shop
Empire Café

Empire Café is located in Leeds’ ‘home of day dining’- Fish street!

Restaurant
Leeds
Restaurant
Phranakhon

Phranakhon Thai Tapas is a revolutionised Thai dining restaurant with a combination of European indulgence and authentic Thai tastes.

Restaurant
Leeds
Restaurant
Wen’s

Wen’s is a family owned Chinese restaurant specialising in authentic, home cooked cuisine.

What's on: Music

Culture Guides

Star Nhà Ease
Cinema in the North

July's cinema highlights include spotlights on international cinema, a new cult classic, plus a visit from one of our favourite directors.

Exhibitions in the North

Captivating, urgent and intimate - we bring you our top exhibition picks, with even more art festivals, artist-led shows and new venues.

Theatre in Manchester
Theatre in the North

Summer signals theatre festivals, world premieres and open-air spectacle - from MIF25 to comedy, outdoor circus and beyond, here’s what we’re looking forward to.

European Poetry Festival European Camarade
Literature Events in the North

From tongue-twisters to twisty page-turners, we have all kinds of spoken word surprises in the latest literature round-up.