Barbican announces new International Associate partnerships

The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel will become the Barbican’s International Orchestral Partner and the Australian Chamber Orchestra has been named as International Associate Ensemble at Milton Court. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis are set to continue their Barbican relationship as International Associate Ensemble.

Huw Humphreys, Head of Music at the Barbican said:

We are delighted to welcome the LA Phil as our first International Orchestral Partner, who – under the leadership of Gustavo Dudamel – will be appearing exclusively at the Barbican and make this their London home over the course of three seasons from the 19/20 season onwards. Since our relationship began in 2010, we have felt an extraordinary artistic and strategic synergy with this ground-breaking institution and they have provided many stand-out performances in our seasons; we are delighted that our audiences will have the chance to deepen their engagement with the LA Phil and Maestro Dudamel. We are also thrilled to welcome the Australian Chamber Orchestra with Richard Tognetti as International Associate Ensemble at Milton Court following their wonderful residency there in March 2017, and to extend our relationship with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis – who will be with us next in February 2018 - as International Associate Ensemble. These three partnerships will take our International Associates strategy to the next stage, including innovative programming and commissioning, pioneering learning work and the chance to engage in the Barbican’s unique cross-arts environment.

We are excited to be working towards future Barbican visits from our current International Associates the New York Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as expanding the number of other world-class symphony orchestras visiting our hall, which include the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Orchestra of La Scala this season. This will ensure an outstanding and varied visiting orchestral offer for our audiences in future seasons.

As part of an extraordinary global tour spanning three continents, the LA Phil, with Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, has been named the Barbican’s International Orchestral Partner for three seasons, beginning in 2019/20. This unique relationship will see annual extended residencies in London, including concerts, creative learning programmes, collaborations and partnerships. Prior to this, the LA Phil will visit the Centre for a residency from 2 – 4 May 2018, featuring three concerts with Gustavo Dudamel. He will lead the orchestra through a varied programme that includes two European premieres by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Ted Hearne, both Barbican co-commissions, and a celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday year with a performance of his Chichester Psalms. The residency will also include a cross-cultural exchange involving young musicians from Los Angeles and Great Britain working with Dudamel as part of a national youth orchestra conference.

Gustavo Dudamel, Music & Artistic Director of the LA Phil said: I am so excited about our collaboration with the Barbican. It is a great institution – truly a center of reference for the orchestral world. And that we get to take the whole LA Phil family and show off so many of our musical offerings, makes it especially appealing. We feel so comfortable, after all, who wouldn’t want a second home in a city as dynamic as London with an organization as vibrant as the Barbican.

Gail Samuel, Acting President and CEO of the LA Phil said: As an International Associate of the Barbican since 2013, what began as a series of biennial residencies has evolved into one of our most meaningful collaborations. We are thrilled to begin this new chapter as the Barbican’s International Orchestral Partner. With the LA Phil’s centennial on the horizon, our attention is focused on both honoring our past and imagining the possibilities of our future. Our ongoing relationship with the Barbican is an essential part of that future, and together, we seek to advance orchestral music while providing access to the young people who will ultimately make it their own.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) will commence its tenure as International Associate Ensemble at Milton Court in the 2018/19 season, with programming details to be announced in the Barbican’s classical season launch in January 2018. This follows on from the success of ACO artistic director and lead violinist Richard Tognetti’s performances as the first ever Milton Court Artist-in-Residence in the Barbican Presents 2016/17 season. Future ACO residencies at Milton Court will include the orchestra’s characteristic eclectic mix of standard repertoire, contemporary programming, multi-media, electronica and non-classical projects as well as collaborations with Guildhall School of Music & Drama musicians.

Richard Tognetti, ACO artistic director said: London is the world’s cultural capital, and the Barbican Centre stands out as this city’s most intrepid concert venue for its courageous programming and dedication to presenting truly imaginative productions across all art-forms. To be invited as International Associate Ensemble at Milton Court and to have a home in London for the next three years, alongside such august company as the LA Philharmonic and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, is an extraordinary honour and we look forward to collaborating with the Barbican who share our commitment to presenting concerts that aim to inspire, embolden and challenge audiences.

World-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), led by managing and artistic director Wynton Marsalis will continue and extend its existing relationship with the Barbican as International Associate Ensemble, tapping into Barbican programming themes and maintaining their high-profile learning work. JLCO’s next residency runs from 27 February – 1 March 2018 and celebrates two game changers of modern music: “King of Swing” American clarinettist and bandleader Benny Goodman, and master educator, composer and musical thinker Leonard Bernstein. A third concert as part of the 2018 residency sees young musicians from the Guildhall Big Band and The Young Jazz Big Band come together at Milton Court Concert Hall in a showcase of what could be the future of Jazz. The 2018 residency will also feature workshops and masterclasses.

Since 2010, the Barbican has run a successful International Associates programme, which has formed the backbone of its orchestral programming alongside its Resident and Associate Orchestras and Ensembles. International Associate Residencies from Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra have resulted in many memorable concerts and some highly impactful projects such as: The New York Philharmonic’s innovative Giants Are Small interpretation of Stravinsky’s Petrushka, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s RCO meets Europe initiative and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig’s critically acclaimed complete Beethoven symphony cycle with Riccardo Chailly.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Barbican Box Office: 0845 120 7550
www.barbican.org.uk

Press Information

For any further information, images or to arrange interviews, please contact the Barbican’s music media relations team:

Sabine Kindel, Senior Communications Manager
t - +44 (0)20 7382 7090
e – [email protected]

Sean Harwood, Senior Communications Officer

t - +44 (0)20 7382 6199

e – [email protected]

Rachel Coombes, Communications Officer
t - +44 (0)20 7382 6196
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Jean Tang, Communications Assistant
t - +44 (0)20 7382 6138
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About the Barbican

A world-class arts and learning organisation, the Barbican pushes the boundaries of all major art forms including dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts. Its creative learning programme further underpins everything it does. Over 1.1 million people attend events annually, hundreds of artists and performers are featured, and more than 300 staff work onsite. The architecturally renowned centre opened in 1982 and comprises the Barbican Hall, the Barbican Theatre, The Pit, Cinemas One, Two and Three, Barbican Art Gallery, a second gallery The Curve, foyers and public spaces, a library, Lakeside Terrace, a glasshouse conservatory, conference facilities and three restaurants. The City of London Corporation is the founder and principal funder of the Barbican Centre.

The Barbican is home to Resident Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra; Associate Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra; Associate Ensembles the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia, Associate Producer Serious, and Artistic Partner Create. Our Artistic Associates include Boy Blue Entertainment, Cheek by Jowl, Deborah Warner, Drum Works and Michael Clark Company. International Associates are Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

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