Urban Soul Orchestra

The Independent describes Urban Soul Orchestra as a "contemporary string ensemble with a repertoire of funky arrangements". Their discography includes artists ranging from classical, jazz, funk, soul, dance and contemporary music.

In 2000, The Times described the 'Urban Soul Orchestra' as a "collective of session musicians which numbers anything from four to 40 players, and is run by violinist and arranger Stephen Hussey."

Stephen Hussey was born in London in 1967 and is of "mixed Zimbabwean and English heritage". He studied the violin and piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Hussey began his professional career with the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), arranging and co-arranging the strings for artists such as Soul II Soul, Gabrielle and Maxi Priest. Hussey went on to become a renowned string arranger in his own right, forming Urban Soul Orchestra, and collaborating with an extensive range of international artists and composers.

The Urban Soul Orchestra has performed or recorded with: Leona Lewis, Groove Armada, Jay-Z, Keane, Il Divo, Oasis,The Script, Grace Jones, Mika, Maxi Priest, and Nitin Sawhney. Urban Soul Orchestra has orchestrated many tracks that have been used as TV and film underscore including Nightmares on Wax ‘Les Nuits’, Octave One ‘Blackwater’ (BBC idents) and Black Connection ‘Give Me Rhythm’ (Titles for C4’s ‘Clubbervision’) In 2011 Urban Soul Orchestra's Stephen Hussey conducted the score for BBC1's Human Planet series, composed by Nitin Sawhney.

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