South Side Symphony

Dr. Marcus Norris founded South Side Symphony with the idea “What if orchestras didn’t exist, and were invented today by a young Black man?” He describes the sound as “like a younger, more ‘ratchet’ version of The Roots, accompanied by lush live strings and horns.” The predominantly-Black orchestra has performed with Chloe x Halle, Andra Day, played on several film scores including NBC Universal’s “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.“, and most recently recorded their first live album through a weekend of three sold-out shows in North Hollywood. After hearing South Side Symphony perform under Marcus’s Musical Direction at the 2022 Wearable Art Gala, Beyoncé asked Marcus to orchestrate several songs for her and 50-piece orchestra as part of her surprise 2023 Dubai return to live performance. The orchestra’s motto is “Our Music in Our Time,” because we know nobody can tell our stories like we can.

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