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Mica Levi: ***
+ Still House Plants

Fri 29 Apr 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm

Tickets £20 plus booking fee

The Barbican’s music programme this April includes a concert of new group compositions by Mica Levi, comprising first performances of pieces from their collection of scores entitled star star star, alongside a performance of Thoughts Are Born. Consisting of written text instructions, speech rhythm techniques and drawings, the scores are available as PDFs via CURL, with star star star also published as a 24-page pamphlet by Cafe Oto.

South London-based Mica Levi is known for their soundtrack work – including Under The Skin, Jackie, Monos and Zola – and they are also a member of the groups CURL (alongside Brother May and Coby Sey), Good Sad Happy Bad and Tirzah. 

The evening’s opening set will be a performance by Still House Plants. The trio, formed at Glasgow School of Art and made up of Jess Hickie-Kallenbach, Finlay Clark and David Kennedy, create experimental sound which is inspired by improvisation and repetition.

Produced by the Barbican 

Commissioned by the Barbican and co-commissioned by Bristol New Music
On sale to Barbican patrons and members on Wed 26 Jan 2022
On general sale on Fri 28 Jan 2022
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Further line-up details announced

Nonclassical: listening to place

Sun 20 Feb 2022 Barbican Hall, 7.30pm

Tickets £15 – 30 plus booking fee & £12.50 (livestream)

Nonclassical curate an evening of music and sound, exploring how we relate and respond to the environmental noise we unconsciously block out. Musicians have always responded to place and space, and, with the advent of recording technology, artists became able to work directly with environmental sound, embedding it into their practice. Through field recordings, musical responses and ambient performance Nonclassical ask how our relationship with the world has changed over time, and how aware we are of the noises and sounds around us. Joining this Nonclassical event are artists of different cultural and geographical backgrounds including Ligeti Quartet, Rebeca Omordia, Kate Carr, Langham Research Centre, Cedrik Fermont and just added to the line-up: Li Yilei, who will perform a special live set for this event, showcasing their unique approach to electronic and found sound. The set will feature tracks from their recent lockdown-inspired album, as well as sounds generated from image scanning, live theremin Claravox, hand-made sound objects, and field recordings from China and the UK.

Co-produced by the Barbican and Nonclassical

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Songs In The Key Of London
Sat 5 Mar 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm
Tickets £22.50 – 35 plus booking fee
‘Sweet Thames! Run Softly, till I End My Song’ - Edmund Spenser

First commissioned by the Barbican in 2010, this special project – Songs In The Key Of London – is reprised to coincide with the Barbican’s 40th Anniversary weekend in March 2022. Featured guest artists so far confirmed include Marc Almond, Louise Marshall, ESKA, Zara McFarlane, Nadine Shah, Graham Gouldman, Ruby Turner, Cathal Coughlan, Emmy the Great, Matt Deighton, Sarah Cracknell and Debsey Wykes (of Saint Etienne). Musical Directors for the concert will be Kate St John and Neill MacColl. The evening will also feature contributions from Barbican Young Poets.

Chelsea Mornings, Waterloo Sunsets and Rainy Nights in Soho. The life and times of the capital have been immortalized in song by many a musician. From the bustle of the music halls to the riot of the punks, from Lovers Rock to Grime, the tradition is rich, a city celebrated, commiserated, and eulogized through song. Co-curated by songwriter Chris Difford of Squeeze and DJ and presenter Nihal Arthanayake, Songs In The Key Of London once again brings together singers and songsmiths of the old school and new, in a musical celebration of our great city.

Produced by the Barbican 
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Coming up soon

• Klein + Lioness + Jawino (Sun 30 Jan 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• GoGo Penguin (Thu 10 Feb 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm, also livestreamed)
• Nonclassical: listening to place (Sun 20 Feb 2022 Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Damon Albarn:  The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows (Mon 21 & Tue 22 Feb 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Manu Delago (Tue 22 Feb 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Songs In The Key Of London (Sat 5 Mar 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Keeley Forsyth (Fri 11 Mar 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Hamza Namira (Sat 12 Mar 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Aldous Harding + H.Hawkline (Wed 30 & Thu 31 Mar 2022, 8pm)
• Vashti Bunyan (Sat 2 Apr 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Circuit des Yeux with LCO Soloists (Wed 6 Apr 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Father John Misty with Britten Sinfonia (Thu 7 Apr 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Grouper + Coby Sey (Thu 14 Apr 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• New Rituals: Ryoichi Kurokawa + Nkisi (Sat 23 Apr 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Hermeto Pascoal with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (Thu 5 May 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Luzmila Carpio (Thu 5 May 2022, Milton Court concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Shards (Fri 6 May 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• Hannah Peel and Paraorchestra with Charles Hazlewood (Sat 21 May 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm, also livestreamed)
• Novo Amor (Mon 23 May 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• John McLaughlin (Sat 28 May 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• William Basinski with the London Contemporary Orchestra: The Disintegration Loops (Thu 9 Jun 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• SFJAZZ Collective: New Works Reflecting the Moment, featuring Gretchen Parlato, Chris Potter, David Sánchez, Etienne Charles, Warren Wolf, Edward Simon, Matt Brewer, Martin Luther McCoy and Kendrick A.D. Scott (Sat 25 Jun 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Jane Birkin (Sat 9 Jul 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Gustavo Santaolalla (Sat 23 Jul 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm) 
• Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time – Thirty Years of The Divine Comedy (Wed 31 Aug – Sun 4 Sep 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)
• Souad Massi + Ruba Shamshoum (Sat 29 Oct 2022, Barbican Hall, 8pm)
• Aoife O’Donovan + Donovan Woods (Wed 2 Nov 2022, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm)
• MoodSwing: Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride and Brian Blade (Mon 14 Nov 2022, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm)