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Award‑winning composer and multi‑instrumentalist Hannah Peel returns to the Barbican programme this winter with Hannah Peel: In Focus - a double bill spanning music and dance, featuring a world premiere and a new artistic collaboration.

Taking place on Friday 23 October 2026 in Milton Court Concert Hall, the first evening sees Peel’s music at the heart of PIA – a brand-new live music and dance production for her 7-movement odyssey Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia (2017), created with choreographer Katya Bourvis and creative producer Tala Lee-Turton, and shaped by the sound of a 17-piece brass band.

The following evening (Saturday 24 October 2026), Peel appears in the Barbican Hall with internationally acclaimed percussionist Beibei Wang for a performance of their forthcoming albumThe Endless Dance, a new work that traces the 24 solar terms of the Chinese calendar through electronics and percussion.   

An Ivor Novello winning composer, who was also Mercury Prize-shortlisted and Emmy‑nominated with an ever‑expanding catalogue of solo and collaborative projects, Hannah Peel has become a distinctive presence at the Barbican – including her 2022 performance with Paraorchestra and Charles Hazlewood. This double bill marks a particularly special return, highlighting the breadth of her artistry and the evolving partnerships that continue to define her work. 
 
More detailed information about both performances follows below: 

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PIA by Katya Bourvis 
in collaboration with Hannah Peel & Tala Lee–Turton 
Friday 23 October 2026, 7.30pm 
Milton Court Concert Hall 
Tickets from £20 plus booking fee

PIA is a new live dance and music production by choreographer Katya Bourvis, created in collaboration with creative producer Tala Lee-Turton, with score by award-winning composer Hannah Peel.

Through both dance and live music performance, PIA traces the life of its central character – a woman from Barnsley – across three generations. The production, which features a 17-piece brass band performing Peel's Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia, moves between the industrial landscape of her hometown and a number of imagined journeys into outer space. The work reflects personal history and the stories that shape us.

Hannah Peel's Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia is a composition that considers memory, imagination and the fleeting nature of human experience. A 7-movement odyssey composed for analogue synths and a colliery brass band, Peel’s critically acclaimed album will take on a new theatrical life at Milton Court Concert Hall in October 2026.

PIA is commissioned by the Barbican and Barnsley Civic, and supported by Arts Council England, the Abderrahim Crickmay Charitable Settlement and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

Produced by the Barbican
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Generously supported by Trevor Fenwick and Jane Hindley

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Hannah Peel & Beibei Wang
The Endless Dance  
Saturday 24 October 2026, 7.30pm 
Barbican Hall 
Tickets from £20 plus booking fee 

Hannah Peel and Beibei Wang join forces for a performance of their upcoming album The Endless Dance, set for release on 22 May via Real World Records. Taking place in the Barbican Hall this winter, the two acclaimed multi-instrumentalists will be staging a show that is both genre-defying and celebratory.

Ancient concepts brought to life through the joy and freedom of play, the work traces the 24 solar terms of the Chinese calendar through a blend of electronics and percussion. Peel’s sound world of Prophet‑6 synthesizer patterns and prepared piano meets Wang’s traditional instruments and playful textures, from water percussion and temple bells to rice bowls and even a jawbone instrument. The Barbican performance will animate this surreal soundscape with the same artistic freedom and chemistry that shaped the album. 

Both genre-defying, storied artists, Peel and Wang met while working on Manchester Collective’s 2023 album NEON. Peel is acclaimed for her boundary‑pushing electronic and orchestral work, while Wang is celebrated internationally for her mastery of Chinese and Western percussion traditions. Together, they form a dynamic harmony built on a shared sense of curiosity and cultural exchange. 

Produced by the Barbican 
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