Press room

Today (10 April) the Barbican announces its autumn and winter season of classical music for 2024-2025. Across the season, with its family of orchestral residents, associates and partners, the Barbican will present a typically eclectic programme of symphonic magnitude, technical mastery and illuminating storytelling – across a millennium of human creativity and music making.

Helen Wallace, Head of Music says: “The Barbican music programme always strives to be ambitious, international and relevant.  Across both our own programme, and those of our resident and associate ensembles, 2024-25 hums with creativity. From exciting new music theatre work and cross-cultural collaborations, welcome returns from both the Simón Bolivar Orchestra and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Yo-Yo Ma and Darbar Festival, to debuts from Sir Antonio Pappano as the LSO’s Chief Conductor, Spinifex Gum, LOD muziektheater and more, we’re offering audiences a rich array of perspectives, captivating performances and, above all, brilliant art music.” 

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: 

• Sir Antonio Pappano begins his tenure as Chief Conductor of Barbican Resident Orchestra the London Symphony Orchestra with the world premiere of a new work by Sir James MacMillan (11 Sep). Sir Simon Rattle marks his 70th birthday by opening the LSO’s Pierre Boulez centenary celebrations and conducting two new birthday gift pieces by Sir George Benjamin (9 Jan) and Mark-Anthony Turnage (12 Jan). Guest artists across the season include Yuja Wang, Vilde Frang, Isabelle Faust and more.
• This season’s Barbican Artist Spotlight residency with Khatia Buniatishvili opens with a collaboration between the Georgian piano sensation and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (9 Dec)  
• Venezuelan superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel returns with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela for two performances of symphonic masterpieces and Latin American music – the orchestra’s first performances in London since 2016 (15-16 Jan)
• The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal make a long-awaited return to the Barbican with conductor Rafael Payare and pianist Daniil Trifonov (19 Nov)  
• Composer Rolf Hind’s new work with Mahogany Opera, Sky in a Small Cage, presents a poetic reflection of the life and works of Sufi poet Rumi (8 Sep)  
• LOD muziektheater & Toneelhuis present Gorges Ocloo’s Ghanaian ‘Afropera’, The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa - telling the story of the heroic woman who confronted colonial injustice in Ghana at the turn of the 20th century (14 Oct)  
• The Barbican and the BBC Symphony Orchestra present M. Butterfly, an operatic semi-staging of David Henry Hwang’s Broadway smash hit play, with music by Huang Ruo and libretto by Hwang (25 Oct)  
• A star-studded roster of recitals run through the season as Piotr Anderszewski (3 Oct), Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott (2 Nov) and Stephen Hough (4 Dec) all return to the Barbican Hall
• Darbar Festival returns for a weekend of transcendent Indian Classical Music featuring Dr L Subramaniam, Jasdeep Singh Degun, Dilshad Khan, Pandit Anindo Khan, Shalmalee Joshi and more (25-27 Oct)
• The Carducci Quartet return to present a full Shostakovich string quartet cycle marking 50 years since the death of the Russian composer, interwoven with music by the women who knew him: Ustvolskaya, Gubaidulina and Firsova. The Carduccis will collaborate with musicians from Guildhall School of Music & Drama and young quartets coached by the ensemble (Jan – May)  
• The BBC Singers celebrate their 100th anniversary with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and cellist Abel Selaocoe  (2 Oct) who will perform again with the BBC Singers in a concert of festive repertoire from around the world (5 Dec)
• Barbican Associate Ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music launches its season-long exploration of the transformative powers of music with two operas derived from Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Charpentier's Actéon and Rameau’s Pygmalion (9 Oct)  
• The stories of the Indigenous Australian Yindjibarndi people are told by Cairns-based musical collective in Spinifex Gum (6 Oct)
• Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw make their Barbican Hall debut following a sold-out performance in Milton Court in 2023 (1 Dec)

Details of the full autumn/winter 2024-25 Barbican classical music programme with dates and click-throughs to event pages as well as overviews of resident and associate ensemble seasons follow below. 

Public booking opens on Fri 19 April, with advance priority booking for Principal and Premier Patrons from Thurs 11 April, to Barbican Patrons from Mon 15 April, Barbican Members Plus from Wed 17 April, and Barbican Members on Thurs 18 April.

Press images: A selection of images from the new season can be downloaded here. Photographer credit is included in image titles. 

Main contact: Ed Maitland Smith, Communications Manager for Music

e – [email protected] / t – 07896279293 

Barbican classical music autumn/winter 2024-25 full programme: 

NEW MUSIC THEATRE AND OPERA

This autumn/winter season will feature three new music theatre projects, variously combining Sufi, Ghanaian, Chinese, Indian and Western classical traditions. This trio of performances challenges hierarchical structures, examines where power imbalances can affect change, and asks the question: where can the interaction between multiple traditions create something new? 

• Sky in a Small Cage(8 Sep) SEASON OPENER: UK opera company Mahogany Opera present Sky in a Small Cage, a new opera with music by pianist and composer Rolf Hind, words by award-winning poet Dante Micheauxand directed by Frederic Wake-Walker. Sky in a Small Cage explores the extraordinary life of the Sufi poet Rumi through Hind’s music, Micheaux’s words, and translations of Rumi’s own poetry. The story centres on Rumi’s relationship with his master, muse and beloved Shams, and Shams’ murder at the suspected hands of Rumi’s own brothers. The performance will star mezzo-soprano Elaine Mitchener, countertenor James Hall, baritone/dancer Yannis François, and soprano Loré Lixenberg with onstage musicians from Riot Ensemble conducted by Aaron Holloway-Nahum. 
• The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa (14 Oct): Belgian/Ghanaian composer Gorges Ocloo’s acclaimed Ghanaian ‘Afropera’ project, The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa, pays homage to the heroic woman who confronted colonial injustice in 1900 Ghana, Nana Yaa Asantewaa. Appropriating a collage of Western classical works, including Bizet’s Carmen, the opera reimagines them through a Ghanaian lens, with voices, drums and percussion. The work is performed by LOD muziektheater & Toneelhuis and features a host of African-based singers and dancers, including South African artists soprano Nobulumko Mngxekeza-Nziramasanga and mezzo-soprano Nonkululeko Nkwinti.
• M. Butterfly (25 Oct): The Barbican and Associate Orchestra the BBC Symphony Orchestra co-present a semi-staged version of Huang Ruo’s opera of David Henry Hwang’s smash-hit play M. Butterfly. Based on a true story of a French diplomat in China, the roles of Madame Butterfly and Pinkerton, the Eastern and Western protagonists in Puccini’s original opera, are here, effectively, inverted, with the ‘Butterfly’ role played by a disguised male spy for the Chinese government. Director James Robinson’s gripping production captures both the driving pulse and the lyricism of Puccini’s original music and reveals the blurred lines between fantasy and reality at the heart of this true story of ambiguity, illusion, fluidity and metaphor.

VISITING ORCHESTRAS

North and Latin America meet the UK’s best and brightest this season as visits from both Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel feature alongside performances from the Sinfonia of London and John Wilson as well as the National Youth Orchestra. 

• Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Rafael Payare (19 Nov): The Orchestra symphonique de Montréal with conductor Rafael Payare make a long-awaited return to the Barbican – performing here for the first time since 1992. The orchestra will join forces with pianist Daniil Trifonov who will perform Beethoven’s assertive Piano Concerto No 1, before the orchestra present Berlioz’ beloved, love-stricken, and opium-laced Symphonie Fantastique as well as the UK premiere of composer Iman Habibi’s Jeder Baum spricht. 
• Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel (15-16 Jan): One of Latin America’s greatest orchestras, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and its Music Director Gustavo Dudamel return to the Barbican Hall and to London for the first time since 2016, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Venezuela’s El Sistema. Over two nights, the orchestra present Mahler’s all-encompassing Symphony No 3, traversing life, nature, love, and the great beyond. Their second performance showcases Venezuelan artistry with composer Gonzalo Grau’s Odisea  Concerto for Venezuelan cuatro and orchestra and Ricardo Lorenz’s Todo Terreno (originally commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra), before presenting a counterpoint to the previous evening’s Mahler with Tchaikovsky’s fate-laden and less optimistic Symphony No 4.
• Sinfonia of London & John Wilson with Sheku Kanneh-Mason (15 Oct): Following a roof-raising, five-star Barbican debut in 2022, the top-flight players in Sinfonia of London return with its Artistic Director and conductor John Wilson. Sheku Kanneh-Mason joins the orchestra to perform Shostakovich’s intricate, imaginative and reference-laden Cello Concerto No 2, written originally for the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. The orchestra also give the London premiere of Kenneth Hesketh’s PatterSongs before presenting Rachmaninov’s rarely heard first symphony. Wilson believes its neglect during and after the composer’s life is wholly unjustified and, with the help of their own brand-new performing edition, Sinfonia of London aim to demonstrate why it deserves to sit as a masterpiece in its own right alongside its better known, younger siblings.
• The National Youth Orchestra (3 Jan): Starting the year off with extraordinary skill and an exuberant sound, TheNational Youth Orchestra make their annual appearance at the Barbican. Led by conductor Jaime Martin, audiences will be able to witness the electric energy of 160 teenage musicians performing together in the Barbican Hall. NB. This concert will go on-sale at a later date.  

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: KHATIA BUNIATISHVILI

This 2024-25 classical music season, the Barbican’s Artist Spotlight will shine on Georgian piano sensation Khatia Buniatishvili, whose charismatic mastery of the piano will be on display across the year. Beginning in December in a collaboration with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Buniatishvili’s residency will continue in full force in the Barbican’s Spring and Summer 2025 programme, to be announced later this year. Previous Artist Spotlights have included soprano Lise Davidsen, pianist Yuja Wang, violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and this season’s current resident cellist, Abel Selaocoe. 

• Khatia Buniatishvili and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (9 Dec): Buniatishvili begins her Barbican Artist Spotlight residency in a performance with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields where they will together perform a programme of Mozart and Haydn. 

SOLOISTS AND DUOS 

• Piotr Anderszewski (3 Oct): Polish pianist and composer Piotr Anderszewski returns to the Barbican bringing the “extraordinary sound” for which he was celebrated in his most recent Barbican performance in 2023. 
• Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott (2 Nov): One of the world’s greatest living cellists, Yo-Yo Ma returns to the Barbican with longtime friend and collaborator, pianist Kathryn Stott for an evening of musical intimacy and expressive fireworks. 
• Samantha Ege: Her Stories(1 Dec): Award-winning musicologist and concert pianist Samantha Ege presents Her Stories – a celebration of bold, brilliant and daring women. Through performance and narration, Ege shares works by Florence Price and Gabriela Ortiz as well as an Odaline de la Martinez world premiere and a new commission by Camila Cortina Bello: Bravura.
• Stephen Hough: Sonatina Nostalgica (4 Dec): Pianist Stephen Hough presents a programme of works by Cecile Chaminade, Robert Schumann and Fryderyck Chopin, built around his own composition for solo piano Sonatina Nostalgica.

DARBAR FESTIVAL

Now in its 19th year, the Darbar Festival returns to the Barbican for a weekend of transcendent Indian Classical Music and surrounding events. Across three days, the festival will give audiences an opportunity to experience a magical mix of emerging young talent, the return of world-class legends as well as master performers making their UK debut appearances.

Audiences will have the opportunity to witness Indian Classical Music artists from Dr L Subramaniam to Jasdeep Singh Degun, Dilshad Khan to Pandit Anindo Khan, Shalmalee Joshi and more.

The DNA of Indian classical music is rooted in nature - ragas and talas are closely associated with animals, birds, weather and seasons, delivering a wholesome and holistic experience to enhance well-being. Alongside the weekend of concerts therefore sits a broadened programme of well-being sessions – from yoga with live music to breathwork, sacred sound baths to mantra and guided meditation sessions. 

For newcomers, the ever-popular Indian Music Appreciation Course will return too, offering audiences a nuanced appreciation of the artform and the Barbican foyers will also play host to Darbar’s Pop-Up Market, with a broad range of small, independent, culturally diverse businesses. 

The full line up of concerts, artists and surrounding events for the festival can be found here (25-27 Oct) 

SHOSTAKOVICH QUARTET CYCLE: INTIMATE PORTRAITS

To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Dmitri Shostakovich, the Carducci String Quartet present a full Shostakovich string quartet cycle to examine the great Russian composer’s inner life, loves, friendships and his work across five Intimate Portraits. Across the cycle, Shostakovich’s string quartets will be paired with works by composers who worked with, learned from and were inspired by him: Galina Ustvolskaya, Sofia Gubaidulina and Elena Firsova. Partnering with a trio of musicians from Guildhall School of Music & Drama as well as emerging quartets coached by the Carduccis, including Kyan Quartet, chamber music fellows at Guildhall School Elmore Quartet, and 2023-24 ECHO Rising Stars Sonoro Quartet, the Carduccis also continue their mission to advocate for a champion chamber music and to bring young performers into their programming. 

The five concerts begin in early spring 2025, taking place each month until May. (29 Jan, 28 Feb, 27 Mar, 29 Apr, 29 May - Full series here 

TRIOS, QUARTETS AND SMALL ENSEMBLES

• Hildegard Transfigured: A Medieval Trance for the 21st Century(17 Sep): First performed to acclaim at the Spitalfields Festival, Hildegard Transfigured is a cross-arts work for the vocal trio Voice (Victoria Couper, Clemmie Franks, Emily Burn) and visual artist Innerstrings. This immersive concoction of film, lighting design and music will take audiences from the 12th century to the 21st in a programme blending the works of the medieval mystic, composer, saint and polymath Hildegard of Bingen with contemporary vocal works inspired by her. Supported by Help Musicians.
• Roopa Panesar(18 Sep): One of the UK’s finest sitar players, Roopa Panesar returns to the Barbican for a concert of Indian classical music, collaborating with similarly trailblazing Indian classical and contemporary musicians: tabla player Sudarshan Singh, Carnatic percussionist RN Prakash, with sound by Camilo Tirado.
• Lodestar Trio (1 Oct): Lodestar Trio is a collaboration between British violin virtuoso Max Baillie, Scandinavian folk stars Erik Rydvall (Swedish nyckelharper) and Olav Mjelva (Norwegian hardanger fiddle) combining the rhythmic, driving reels of Scandinavian folk music with the intricacy and ornamentation of the Baroque period. This programme includes uniquely reimagined versions of pieces from Bach’s cello suites, and sonatas and partitas for solo violin alongside works by Merula and Couperin and contemporary Nordic melodies.
• Spinifex Gum (6 Oct): Part protest, part celebration, Spinifex Gum features all-female first nations ensemble Marliya and Australia’s national children’s choir Gondwana Voices joined by UK-based choirs. The music is composed and arranged in collaboration with Felix Riebl and Ollie McGill (The Cat Empire). Spinifex Gum confronts challenging political and environmental issues in contemporary Australia: social disparity present in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, land rights, disproportionate incarceration and deaths in custody. Marliya sing in both English and First Nations languages. 
• Britten Sinfonia and Will Gregory Moog Ensemble (8 Oct): Britten Sinfonia joins Will Gregory, half of the electropop duo Goldfrapp, and his 10-piece Moog Ensemble for a unique performance that pays tribute to electronic music’s two great female pioneers: BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s Delia Derbyshire and Wendy Carlos, creator of Moog-overdubbed Bach arrangements and the score for Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. The performance features synthy, sci-fi movie soundtracks and the London premiere of Will Gregory’s Archimedes suite for synths and orchestra, celebrating the Ancient Greek genius’ legacy.
• Dudok Quartet: Abandoned Voices (17 Oct): Hailing from Amsterdam, string ensemble the Dudok Quartet present a programme that investigates the myriad ways in which humanity employs voices to give meaning to our lives. The programme will also include a new work by British composer Bushra El Turk, Three Tributes, that pays homage to three female singers from the Nahda period, the Arab cultural renaissance of the late 19th and early 20th century.
• Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw: Rectangles and Circumstance(1 Dec): Daring percussion ensemble Sō Percussion and Caroline Shaw return to the Barbican following a sold-out debut together in Milton Court in 2022. Collaborating once again with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Shaw, the ensemble will present a typically forward-facing programme of beguiling new from this second collaborative offering, also scheduled for release on Nonesuch Records in summer 2024.
• Christmas with Connaught Brass (8 Dec): Making a joyful Barbican debut, Connaught Brass (Aaron Akugbo trumpet, Harry Plant trumpet, Annemarie Federle french horn, Chris Brewster trombone and Ales Meredith-Barrett tuba) are joined by pianist Junyan Chen for a programme laced with warmth, festivity and cheer and featuring arrangements by the 2023 RPS award nominated Akugbo.

LOOKING AHEAD

• London Symphony Orchestra and Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra: The Jungle (15 Mar): Jazz at Lincoln Centre Artistic Director and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and Sir Antonio Pappano blend jazz, blues and classical music in the crossover collaboration as they present Wynton Marsalis’ Symphony No 4 ‘The Jungle’ - a wild and brilliant portrait of New York City in all its dazzling, high-pressure, cosmopolitan glory. 

BARBICAN RESIDENT ORCHESTRA AND ASSOCIATE ENSEMBLES AUTUMN AND WINTER 2024 HIGHLIGHTS: 

LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (RESIDENT ORCHESTRA)

Sir Antonio Pappano begins his tenure as LSO Chief Conductor with a series of four concert programmes over a ten-day period from mid-September 2024. The highlight is the world premiere of a major new work by James MacMillan, Concerto for Orchestra, commissioned by the LSO for this moment. (11 Sept).

For the next concert Sir Antonio commences a substantial season-long exploration of great British masterpieces, beginning with Elgar’s Violin Concerto, with Vilde Frang as guest soloist, and Holst’s The Planets Suite. This opening period sees the first of several collaborations between the LSO, Sir Antonio and pianist Yuja Wang, during the 2024/25 Season. They begin with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No 4, in a programme completed by Berlioz’ Roman Carnival and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No 3 (15 Sept). The partnership continues with Bartók’s Piano Concerto No 23 in a double-bill with Mahler’s Symphony No 1 The Titan (19 Sept).

The LSO’s Chief Conductor returns for further LSO Barbican concerts in December with two concert performances of Puccini’s opera La rondine (10 & 12 Dec), Followed by further exploration of the symphonies of Vaughan Williams (15 Dec) with Symphony No 9, the climax of an all-British programme comprising Elgar’s cello concerto with soloist LSO Principal David Cohen, and Arnold Bax’s symphonic poem Tintagel.

Sir Antonio celebrates the winter holiday season with concerts of jazz and music theatre featuring Music by Gershwin, Bernstein, Kapustin, and Duke Ellington (18 & 19 Dec).

Sir Simon Rattle marks his 70th birthday opening the LSO’s Boulez centenary celebrations with his 1965 chamber piece for 15 instruments Éclat and conducting the first of his birthday gifts a new the suite from Lessons in Love and Violence from Sir George Benjamin (9 Jan). For his next concert he conducts a complete British programme with Tippett’s Ritual Dances from Midsummer Marriage, the world premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage’s Guitar Concerto for American jazz guitarist-composer John Scofield, a second big birthday gift from the composer, with Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No 5 completing the evening (12 Jan).

The series of events celebrating the legacy of the composer and conductor Pierre Boulez continues with François-Xavier Roth conducting the LSO Futures concert with Boulez’s Notations 1,2,3,4 & 7 and the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s response to Notations - Homage à Pierre Boulez IX Tombeau II (26 Jan). Completing the tribute Roth also leads a symposium on Pierre Boulez at Milton Court finishing with a special chamber concert at Milton Court exploring five chamber works (27 Jan).

François-Xavier Roth continues his series of programming Beethoven symphonies alongside modern works and suggesting the subtle connections between the two. First, he pairs Beethoven’s Symphony No 1 and No 4 alongside Adamek’s’ Violin Concerto with Isabelle Faust as guest soloist (31 Oct), with Symphony No 7 with Lachemann’s My Melodies Music for 8 Horns and Orchestra (27 & 28 Nov), featuring the brass players of the LSO.

LSO Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas is welcomed back to conduct two performances of Mahler Symphony No 2 (20 & 21 Oct), and LSO Associate Artist André J Thomas fronts the annual Gospel concert (3 Nov). Other guest conductors are Klaus Mäkelä making his LSO conducting debut (10 Nov) and Daniele Rustioni, winner of the 2022 International Opera Award for Best Conductor and Music Director of the Ulster Orchestra.

The LSO’s EFG London Jazz Festival concert on 21 November will feature British saxophonist and composer Cassie Kinoshi and the ensemble seed.

BBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (ASSOCIATE ORCHESTRA) AND CHORUS AND THE BBC SINGERS 

The BBC Symphony Orchestra’s autumn season opens with Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo leading Mahler’s powerful sixth symphony; a landmark in Oramo’s ongoing journey through Mahler’s works (26 Sep). Conductor Dinis Sousa makes his BBC SO debut with Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 featuring soloist Bertrand Chamayou, and the concert will also include the London premiere of Unsuk Chin’s wondrous new orchestral piece Ritus des Herzschlags (12 Oct).   

In November, Oramo leads Kirill Gerstein in Busoni’s remarkable Piano Concerto and Bacewicz’s Symphony No. 2 (1 Nov) and Ilya Gringolts joins Oramo and the orchestra to perform Szymanowski’s gorgeous Violin Concerto No. 1. The evening will also feature music by Wagner, Strauss and Dora Pejačević (8 Nov). Hannu Lintu makes his welcome return to the orchestra to conduct Elysium by the brilliant young Canadian composer Samy Moussa, Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben and Haydn’s Nelson Mass. Soloists will include Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Jennifer Johnston and Derek Welton (29 Nov). 

Conductor Jonathon Heyward makes his debut with the orchestra with Prokofiev’s thrilling Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Yeol Eum Son (6 Dec). For a special Christmas concert, Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Chorus rediscover the tenderness and wonder of Berlioz’s magical Christmas cantata, L’enfance du Christ (13 Dec).  

In the new year, composer and conductor George Fenton conducts Wild Isles Live in Concert, a concert featuring his music from the BBC 2023 Sir David Attenborough series about the wildlife of the British Isles (18 Jan). Oramo conducts the UK premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s astonishing final masterpiece, Hush…, played by trumpeter Verneri Pohjola. The evening will also feature Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending with BBC SO leader Igor Yuzefovich, and the BBC Symphony Chorus will sing Vaughan Williams’s Toward the Unknown Region (24 Jan). Jakub Hrůša, ahead of beginning his tenure as Music Director of the Royal Opera House, conducts Shostakovich’s 11th Symphony and Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto with pianist Jonathan Biss (31 Jan).  

The BBC Singers perform a special Centenary Concert to mark their 100th birthday, featuring a host of artists and guests and a World Premiere of a new work by Roderick Williams (2 Oct). The BBC Singers join forces with their Artist in Association, Abel Selaocoe, for a concert of festive repertoire from around the world (5 Dec).  

ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC (ASSOCIATE ENSEMBLE) 

Barbican Associate Ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music and Laurence Cummings launch their ‘Transformation' season with two captivating one-act operas derived from Ovid’s Metamorphoses by two fine French baroque composers: Charpentier's Actéon and Rameau’s Pygmalion (9 Oct). Cummings directs a stellar cast including sopranos Anna Dennis and Rachel Redmond, mezzo-soprano Katie Bray and  tenor Thomas Walker. 

Laurence Cummings and Academy of Ancient Music explore the power of collegial influence in a survey of works by Mozart, Haydn, Dittersdorf and Wanhal written in 1784 – a seminal year in which the four composers performed together in the same string quartet (14 Nov).

An exceptional ensemble of vocalists - Louise Alder soprano, Tim Mead countertenor, Nick Pritchard tenor and Cody Quattlebaum bass - join Academy of Ancient Music and Laurence Cummings to celebrate a transformation at the heart of the Christian faith, in Handel’s great oratorio Messiah (16 Dec). 

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For further information, images or to arrange interviews about Barbican promotions please contact: 

Ed Maitland Smith, Communications Manager for Music 
e – [email protected]

t – 0203 834 1115  

Simone Gibbs, Communications Officer for Music 
e – [email protected] 

t – 0203 834 1185 

Lucy Thraves, Communications Assistant for Music  

e - [email protected]

Barbican press room

All Barbican Centre press releases, news announcements and the Communications team’s contact details are listed on our website at www.barbican.org.uk/our-story/press-room

About the Barbican

The Barbican is a catalyst for creativity, sparking possibilities for artists, audiences, and communities. We showcase the most exciting art from around the world, pushing traditional artistic boundaries to entertain and inspire millions of people, create connections, provoke debate, and reflect the world we live in. 

We are an international arts and events centre rooted firmly in our own neighbourhood, collaborating with local communities and putting the City of London on the map as a destination for everybody. Central to our purpose is supporting emerging talent and shaping opportunities that will accelerate the next generation of creatives. 

As a not-for-profit, we rely on the generosity of individuals and organisations, including our principal funder the City of London Corporation. Every ticket purchased, donation made, and pound earned supports our arts and learning programme and enables the widest possible range of people to experience the joy of the arts. 

Opened in 1982, the Barbican is a unique and audacious building, recognised globally as an architectural icon. As well as our theatres, galleries, concert halls and cinemas, we have a large conservatory with over 1,500 species of plants and trees, a library, conference facilities, public and community spaces, restaurants, bars, and a picturesque lakeside oasis. 

We’re proud to be the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a London base of the Royal Shakespeare Company. We regularly co-commission, produce and showcase the work of our other associates and partners including the Academy of Ancient Music, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Boy Blue, Britten Sinfonia, Cheek by Jowl, Darbar Festival, Doc'n Roll Film Festival, Drum Works, EFG London Jazz Festival, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, London Palestine Film Festival, National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO), Serious, and Trafalgar Entertainment.

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