London Symphony Orchestra
Resident Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is built on the belief that extraordinary music should be available to everyone, everywhere. It was established in 1904 and today is among the world’s top orchestras
As Resident Orchestra at the Barbican since the Centre opened, it performs some 50 concerts here every year, under the batons of a family of conductors that includes Chief Conductor Designate Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor Emeritus Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth, Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas and Associate Artists Barbara Hannigan and André J Thomas.
Events
LSO Discovery Day: Sounds from South America
Discover music by composers from South America at this Discovery Day, with a morning rehearsal conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, and talks and chamber music in the afternoon.
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle: Bartók
Bartók’s last, great masterpiece is heard alongside the gruesome fairy-tale of Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, conducted by Music Director Sir Simon Rattle.
Half Six Fix: Concerto for Orchestra LSO/Rattle
Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is introduced and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle in this early-evening Half Six Fix concert.
London Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Harding: Widmann & Bruckner
Antoine Tamestit – a soloist with a mission to make listeners fall in love with the viola – opens his LSO Artist Portrait, which runs throughout the season and showcases his musical inspirations.
London Symphony Orchestra/Gianandrea Noseda: St John Passion
Gianandrea Noseda leads a Palm Sunday performance of James MacMillan’s dramatic, large-scale telling of the St John Gospel, acclaimed as ‘a landmark for contemporary music’.
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Mark Elder: Elgar and Sibelius
Sir Mark Elder presents two 20th-century masterpieces by Elgar and Sibelius, including a work that with a deep connection to both orchestra and soloist – Elgar’s Violin Concerto.
London Symphony Orchestra/François-Xavier Roth: Dukas
There must be millions for whom their first experience of classical music was Disney’s Fantasia, underscored by Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. But you might struggle to name another work by him.
LSO Discovery Free Friday Lunchtime Concert
Want to know more about classical music but not sure where to start? Make the most of your lunchbreak and enjoy a free, 45-minute informal concert at LSO St Luke’s.
London Symphony Orchestra/François-Xavier Roth: Bartók
‘Bartók has always fascinated me,’ says François-Xavier Roth, who presents two of the composer’s folk-infused works in this concert. ‘It’s interesting to see how he created modernism in his time.’
Half Six Fix: Bartók LSO/Roth
In this early-evening concert, introduced on-stage by the conductor, François-Xavier Roth pairs two works that show Bartók’s love of folk music and the stories of the composer’s forefathers.
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano: British Roots
Sir Antonio Pappano presents music by Vaughan Williams and Britten, influenced by both the composers of the past and the realities of life in the first half of the 20th century.
London Symphony Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki: La Mer
Susanna Mälkki brings together a musical kaleidoscope of folklore, light and the ocean.
London Symphony Orchestra/Karina Canellakis: Ravel & Strauss
Karina Canellakis takes us though a feast of Ravel and Strauss in her debut concert with the LSO, exploring themes of life, the soul and mortality.
London Symphony Orchestra: Symphonic Gospel Spirit
André J Thomas conducts music for symphony orchestra and gospel choirs, including arrangements of spirituals and standards with a twist.
London Symphony Orchestra/Elim Chan: Daphnis and Chloe
As spring approaches, Elim Chan leads us from the cold winter’s nights into the splendour of sunlight, in this concert of music spanning the 20th century to the present day.
Discover
Profile: London Symphony Orchestra
Listen to our selection of LSO recordings from across the years in our Spotify playlist.
Barbican Sessions: Peter Moore
London Symphony Orchestra’s young trombonist, Peter Moore, performs 'Doolallynastics – a brief torture for solo trombone’ by Brian Lynn in our latest Barbican Session, filmed in one of our Frobisher Auditoriums.
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