ESCALA is one of the world’s longest-lasting professional success stories of the international Got Talent franchise. 2026 celebrates ESCALA’s 18th year as the UK’s most notable electric string quartet whose first album “Escala”, produced by Grammy™ award-winning Trevor Horn, reached No 2 in the UK Official Albums Chart, between albums by Eminem (No 1) and Green Day (No 3).
They reached the televised Finals of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, after which they signed a £1.5million contract with Simon Cowell’s label SyCo Music. They recorded “Escala” at Sarm West London, Sarm West Coast Los Angeles and Angel Studios London. Slash (Guns N’ Roses) guests on their signature track Kashmir (Led Zeppelin) arranged by Simon Hale. Other cross genre hits include Palladio (Jenkins), Live and Let Die (McCartney), Requiem (Mansell), Children (Miles), Clubbed to Death (Dougan), Chi Mai (Morricone), Finding Beauty (Armstrong) and Feeling Good (Newley / Bricusse).
Their next album Quadrasonic was produced by Martin Glover aka Youth. With arrangements by Simon Hale and new music written by Escala, tracks include Bittersweet Symphony (Richards, Jagger, Ashcroft), Louder, (Stain / Powell), Make You Feel My Love (Dylan), Roxanne (Sting), Sweet Dreams (Lennox / Stewart), Tempest (Escala), Zahara (Escala), Hysteria (Def Leppard) and Tainted Love (Cobb).
ESCALA has maintained a strong relationship with ITV over the years, performing at their industry Palooza event, giving a memorable collaboration with the street dance troupe Diversity as part of ITV1’s televised Royal Variety Show and, most recently, has featured performing their dance track Louder (DJ Fresh) in a bespoke Cheltenham Festival film created by ITV Sport. ITV won a BAFTA for their coverage of Day One of Cheltenham Festival which Escala’s film was part of.
The Band recently performed for Porsche as part of a ground-breaking drone light show over the River Thames for the UK launch of their new Macan and Taycan electric cars. This invitation followed a Porsche pop-up performance that ESCALA gave to celebrate the “Porsche Dream Big” car art installation by artist Chris Labrooy. ESCALA also gave multiple explosive live performances of Kashmir for Porsche from the balcony of Goodwood House to 150,000 daily spectators throughout Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2023.
ESCALA has played all over the world and has performed with many artists including Brian May, Richard Ashcroft, Pink Floyd and Katherine Jenkins. The group appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and in a Sky Sports campaign, performed at a James Bond film premiere in London and at The Grand National on the infamous Aintree Racecourse, the last honour of which led to The Jockey Club commissioning ESCALA to write a brand new Bridgerton-inspired work for performance on Champions Day of the 2024 Cheltenham Festival.
They have also performed in some of the most prestigious venues and at various iconic UK landmarks such as British Museum, Royal Albert Hall, Tower of London, The Oval, Café de Paris, Royal Festival Hall, Goodwood House, The Roundhouse, Leicester Square, Kensington Palace, National History Museum, Twickenham Stadium, Manchester Art Gallery, Queen’s Club, National Maritime Museum, London Palladium, Carnaby Street, St George’s Bradford, Old Billingsgate Market and Ascot & Epsom Racecourses.
​
ESCALA has worked on many special projects with auspicious organisations such as Facebook, Spotify, Formula 1, Financial Times, Marriott Hotels, William & Son, Chopard, Citadel, BYD Auto, Christian Dior, Professional Footballers Association, La Ciudad de las Ideas, Ageas, Holland Cooper, Iceland, Luxaviation, Bestway and Mastercard.
​
They have also performed for charities close to their hearts including Blood Cancer UK, Ovarian Cancer Action, RAF Benevolent Fund, Royal Variety Charity, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Alan Shearer Foundation, Grocery Aid, Rays of Sunshine Children’s Charity, Chain of Hope and Help for Heroes.
ESCALA is made up of best friends Victoria Lyon (violin), Honor Watson (violin), Stephanie Benedetti (viola) and Helen Nash (cello). Between their live shows and inspiring young string players internationally, they continue to write, arrange and record new material, constantly pushing the boundaries of the electric string quartet repertoire.