Barbican Presents
Barbican Presents brings some of the greatest international classical artists, orchestras and ensembles to London, in a stimulating and eclectic mix of classical, contemporary, and Baroque music.
Barbican Members enjoy 20% off tickets and pay no booking fees across the Barbican Presents season. Find out more.
Events
Sinfonia of London/John Wilson with Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Embedding the intricacies of the patter song, Kenneth Hesketh’s orchestral show-stopper prefaces two compelling Russian master works as John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London return.
Dudok Quartet: Abandoned Voices
Alongside something hot off the press, death, despair, and eternity stalk the Dudoks’ typically ear-opening programme in which Messiaen tempers the anguished ardour of Gesualdo and Schubert.
Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma reunites with long-time duo partner Kathryn Stott in two masterly sonatas and sublimely unruffled Arvo Pärt.
Orchestre symphonique de Montreal/Rafael Payare
Conducted by Rafael Payare, the Montréal orchestra’s Barbican debut launches a European tour. Preceding symphonic Berlioz, Daniil Trifonov is the soloist in Beethoven’s playful Piano Concerto No 1.
Her Stories with Samantha Ege
‘Bold, brilliant, and daring women’ nourish Samantha Ege’s recital of 20th and 21st century piano music, including a work by Havanan ‘fusionista’ Camila Cortina Bello.
Stephen Hough: Sonatina Nostalgica
Appearing as both pianist and composer, Stephen Hough wraps fiery Schumann and Chopin around his own sonatina trip down memory lane.
Christmas with Connaught Brass
For its Barbican debut, multi-prize-winning Connaught Brass despatches season’s greetings in a cracker of a programme that gift wraps festive joy with interludes of serene reflection.
Khatia Buniatishvili and Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Following last year’s solo recital, accompanied by the perennially stylish Academy of St Martin in the Fields, pianist Khatia Bhuniatishvili returns for two strongly contrasted Mozart concertos.
Simón Bolívar Orchestra/Dudamel: Mahler 3
Gustavo Dudamel returns to the hall at the head of his ‘other’ orchestra: the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. There’s just one work, but Mahler’s mighty Symphony No 3 is a stand-alone masterpiece.
Simón Bolívar Orchestra/Dudamel: Odisea
For the 2nd concert of their Barbican stopover, Gustavo Dudamel and his orchestra are remembering home as the vibrant Latino vibes of Riccardo Lorenz and Gonzalo Grau encounter fate-full Tchaikovsky.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 1
Marking 50 years since the composer’s death, the Carduccis inaugurate a five-concert odyssey through the complete string quartets – works that enshrine his inner life, loves and closest friendships.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 2
Sofia Gubaidulina contemplates unfinished J S Bach as the Carduccis survey Shostakovich in triplicate across some two decades.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 3
The multinational young Kyan Quartet joins the Carduccis as Gubaidulina’s compact Quartet No 2 is stitched into a Shostakovich sequence including the penultimate quartet, with its focus on the cello.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 4
Three quartets unite to perform the Chamber Symphony enlargement of Shostakovich’s 8th quartet, crowning a programme including Firsova’s ardent, deftly-plotted Quartet No 4.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 5
Our Shostakovich cycle began with the Quartet No 1, and ends, inevitably, with No 15, staring death resolutely in the face, a work heart-stopping in its searing intensity.
Insula orchestra/Laurence Equilbey: Fauré's Requiem
Heaven and earth: Mat Collishaw’s mesmerising projections accompany sacred music by Fauré and Gounod, connecting these spiritual works to human experience and the natural world.
Fenella Humphreys & Leah Broad
Violinist Fenella Humphreys joins forces with author Leah Broad and pianist Nicola Eimer to explore some of the most important but neglected figures of 20th century music.
Piotr Anderszewski
From Bach to Webern, pianist Piotr Anderszewski finds fascinating connections between composers whose visionary ideas would change keyboard music forever.
Maxim Vengerov and Polina Osetinskaya
Grammy Award-winning violinist Maxim Vengerov is joined by pianist Polina Osetinskaya in some of the great violin sonatas of the Romantic era.
Beatrice Rana
In a recital that covers a kaleidoscopic range of colours and styles, Beatrice Rana makes her Barbican recital debut with some of the most demanding and dazzling music written for piano.
Mullova Ensemble: Transfigured Night
Through music, poetry and dance, Viktoria Mullova and her ensemble take us on an immersive journey into a nocturnal forest, setting the scene for Schoenberg’s profoundly moving ode to love.
ECHO Rising Stars: Axelle Fanyo and Kunal Lahiry
Hear one, choose one: Axelle Fanyo invites the audience to curate the perfect programme, from enchanting French music to American song cycles that set your imagination free.
Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Rising star Nardus Williams and period-instrument ensemble Europa Galante enter a world of Baroque brilliance in a programme of music by Vivaldi, Handel and Purcell.
Roomful of Teeth
Grammy-winning vocal group Roomful of Teeth returns with new music by composers celebrated for breaking down cultural boundaries.
Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Jurowski: Mahler 4
Hear tales of life, death and the love we share in between as the Bayerisches Staatsorchester continues its 500th anniversary celebrations with three jewels of the Romantic period.
Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Jurowski: Alpine Symphony
In the first of two concerts, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester (Bavarian State Orchestra) celebrates its 500th anniversary with music that pays homage to the orchestra’s formidable history.
Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra/Keri-Lynn Wilson
Art over adversity: the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra returns to London with a programme of music by Ukrainian composers plus one of Beethoven’s most epic symphonies.
The Met Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Joyce DiDonato, Angel Blue and Russell Thomas: if this dream team of singers wasn’t enough, add in Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the fabled Met Orchestra and you’ve got an unmissable end to our season.
Joby Talbot's Everest
The UK premiere of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s new opera Everest: a spectacular drama of life, death and the human spirit on the roof of the world.
Les Siècles/François-Xavier Roth
Les Siècles and their conductor François-Xavier Roth bring their extraordinary sonic textures and native sensibilities to evocative masterpieces of the French repertoire.
Peter Donohoe
Due to illness, Daniil Trifonov is unable to perform his recital. We are very pleased to have programmed a recital by British pianist Peter Donohoe in its place.
Vespers with BBC Singers and Abel Selaocoe
Let the shadows of evening envelope you, as Rachmaninov's sacred All-Night Vigil meets African musical traditions in a captivating evening from cellist Abel Selaocoe and the BBC Singers.
Hélène Grimaud
Free-spirited French pianist Hélène Grimaud brings her radical approach to three transcendental and powerful masterpieces of the piano literature, in an evening of delightful musical contradictions.
Discover
Barbican Sessions: Isata Kenneh-Mason
Isata Kanneh-Mason plays Brahms's Op 118, No 3 'Ballade' in our Fountain Room
Listen: Classical Music on Spotify
Follow our regularly updated Classical Music playlist for a sample of the music you'll hear across our programme.
Barbican Sessions: Satu Vänskä
In an empty Theatre, Satu Vänskä, Principal Violinist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, performs JS Bach's ‘Allemande’ from Partita II in D minor.
Listen: Contemporary Classical on Spotify
Discover music from across the Contemporary Classical spectrum – from Judith Weir and George Benjamin to Nils Frahm and Max Richter.
Barbican Sessions: Jess Gillam
In an empty Level G foyer, Jess Gillam performs her ECHO Rising Stars commission: Edmund Finnis's A Spiral Ascending, Kurt Weill's Je ne t'aime pas and Astor Piazzolla's 'Nightclub 1960' from Histoire du Tango with Leif Kaner-Lidström and Sam Becker.
