Oi Musica are off to London to play for the Queen

Edinburgh street band specialists Oi Musica have assembled a one-off performance group of Scotland’s top street musicians for Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations – and will feature a UK record-breaking 12 sousaphone players.

 The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant takes place in London on Sunday 5 June, when more than 6,000 costumed performers will process down the Mall to Buckingham Palace in front of an international TV audience of millions. 

The 32-strong troupe will play alongside Kinetika Bloco – a carnival powerhouse and Youth Company in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre and the Thames Festival Trust.

The Edinburgh musicians rehearsed on Portobello Prom last weekend when Andy Grappy and Shayanna Dyer-Harris from Kinetic Bloco  set the rhythm for each section.

Oi Musica will feature in the Carnival section of the Pageant – one of only two Scottish performance groups to do so – alongside the cream of the UK’s carnival, circus and outdoor arts performance companies.

Together they will form a 120-strong marching band of samba drums, steel pans, brass and wind players – providing the soundtrack for 200 costumed youth dancers.

With 320 performers channelling their energy, talent, passion, pain and joy into an extraordinary performance, this is a large-scale carnival piece that will be spectacular, intoxicating and powerful.

Olivia Furness, Creative Director of Oi Musica said: “Oi Musica is thrilled to be part of such a large-scale and spectacular event, and we are grateful for the opportunity to unite so many of Scotland’s top carnival musicians for the occasion. River of Hope focuses on the legacy of the Queen’s 70-year reign, looking to the future and asking young people what their dreams for the next 70 years might be. As an organisation with a strong youth focus, we are delighted to be part of this.”

Oi Musica was founded in 2011 by musicians Olivia Furness and Marcus Britton to deliver music projects with social benefit – becoming a social enterprise in 2018. We are an ambitious, artist-led organisation based in Edinburgh, working throughout Scotland and beyond. Our work celebrates all aspects of group music making – generating positive shared experiences, celebrating collective success, and finding common ground between players from different backgrounds.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant will take place on Sunday 5 June 2022, processing along The Mall and surrounding streets in celebration of The Queen’s 70-year reign.

The organising company, The Platinum Jubilee Pageant, has commissioned artists and communities from around the country and Commonwealth including military personnel, performers, key workers and volunteers from across the UK, who will come together to tell the story of The Queen’s 70-year reign and our transforming society.

The Platinum Jubilee Pageant Company is co-chaired by Sir Michael Lockett KCVO and Nicholas Coleridge CBE. The CEO is Rosanna Machado and Pageant Master is Adrian Evans.