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 (subject to availability). Find out more.
Events
Evgeny Kissin
Chopin at his most mercurial, and Shostakovich’s response to Bach as well as his piano sonata swansong all come under the spotlight as the great pianist attends to unfinished business.
CBSO/Abi Sampa: The Orchestral Qawwali Project
This glorious blend of Sufi poetry, Indian Classical dance and symphony orchestra comes to the Barbican.
ANNO: Four Seasons by Anna Meredith & Antonio Vivaldi
Experience the passage of time through a surprising and utterly fresh interpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
Oum – A Son’s Quest for His Mother
We are proud to present the UK premiere of Bushra El-Turk’s latest opera, following the success of A Woman at Point Zero, and featuring star singers Ghalia Benali, Dima Orsho and Bernadeta Astari.
Lang Lang
One of the most influential pianists of the 21st century plays music by Fauré, Schumann and Chopin.
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir: Adam's Lament
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir is joined by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra for an evening of beloved 20th century works in celebration of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's 90th birthday.
Les Arts Florissants & Amala Dianor Company
Blending a cappella singing with expressive movement, Gesualdo Passione crowns Paul Agnew and Les Arts Florissants' work on Carlo Gesualdo, in a modern creation by choreographer Amala Dianor.
Sinfonia of London: Serenade
The barnstorming Sinfonia of London have garnered rave reviews since their relaunch in 2018, and this concert presents a rare opportunity to hear them in a smaller, more intimate arrangement.
Seth Parker Woods: Thus Spoke Their Verse
Anchored by three Bach Sarabandes, cellist Seth Parker Woods explores three centuries of cello music, focusing on identity, storytelling, and polyphony.
Julius Eastman: A Power Greater Than
Barbican artist-in-residence Davóne Tines performs a multidisciplinary all-Julius Eastman program curated by Seth Parker Woods, alongside AMOC* & Kyle Marshall Dance Company.
Explore Ensemble & EXAUDI: Eight Lines
Bringing an alternative slant to American minimalism, London's Explore Ensemble and the EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble present a major new work by Catherine Lamb, alongside music by James Tenney & Steve Reich.
Workshop: Come & Sing Arvo Pärt/The Carice Singers
Aimed at choral singers looking for a challenge, this workshop offers a chance to rehearse and perform Pärt’s Morning Star and The Beatitudes with The Carice Singers and Christopher Bowers-Broadbent.
The Carice Singers: Infinity Flow
The Carice Singers celebrate Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday with a program of his most mesmerizing choral works, showcasing his signature blend of purity, stillness, and profound spirituality.
Gabriela Montero with the Calidore Quartet: Canaima
Celebrated Venezuelan pianist and composer Gabriela Montero is joined by the Calidore Quartet for a programme of chamber music including a new work, Canaima, by Montero herself.
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in an exhilarating programme of Janáček and Bruckner.
12 Ensemble / GBSR Duo x Koreless: Pärt Refracted
For the final Barbican concert in celebration of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday, the London based 12 Ensemble bring a contemporary slant to the 20th century titan’s compositions.
Ligeti Quartet: Sunrise Missions
The remarkable Ligeti Quartet traces the shifting contours of memory, nature, and change, through music by Kaija Saariaho, Cassandra Miller, John Luther Adams and many more.
Consone Quartet X Chiaroscuro Quartet
Two leading instrumental groups – period ensemble Consone Quartet and the acclaimed Chiaroscuro Quartet – join forces to present an evening of beloved classical works.
The Hermes Experiment: Let Us Be a Mighty River
A collaboration between The Hermes Experiment and five international sound artists, this immersive concert-installation responds to the climate emergency.
The Marian Consort: The Language of Flowers
Acclaimed choral ensemble Marian Consort pays tribute to flowers and gardens both actual and allegorical, with music from the late Renaissance to the present day.
SANSARA Choir with United Strings of Europe
SANSARA and United Strings of Europe join forces to explore the themes of sanctuary and solidarity in a programme built around Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands.
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 Mozart's Piano Concerto No 23.
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.
Stephen Hough in Recital
Appearing as both pianist and composer, Stephen Hough wraps fiery Schumann and Chopin around the London premiere of his own sonatina.
Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw
Powerhouse percussion ensemble Sō Percussion and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and singer Caroline Shaw return to perform music from their upcoming album, Rectangles and Circumstance.
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.
Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique
Conducted by Rafael Payare, the Montréal orchestra launches a European tour. Preceding Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, Javier Perianes is the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1.
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.
Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly
A smash-hit Broadway play turned movie, David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly metamorphoses into music theatre as the UK premiere of Huang Ruo’s operatic reworking takes wing.
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.
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 master works as John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London return.
The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa
Interweaving singing, dance, and cutting-edge theatre, Gorges Ocloo’s ground-breaking AfrOpera re-examines Nana Yaa Asantewaa’s defiant stance against colonialism and cultural appropriation.
Spinifex Gum
An all-indigenous female youth choir with dance, visuals, plus a visceral song cycle about ancestry and stewardship. The result? The dazzling phenomenon that is Spinifex Gum.
Piotr Anderszewski
Beethoven and Bartók both insist that there’s no such thing as a ‘mere bagatelle’ when Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski pairs two compelling sets of inventive miniatures.
Lodestar Trio
By inclination one of music’s most intrepid cross-pollinators the Lodestar Trio breezes through the baroque on an exhilarating genre-bending journey into Nordic folk music and beyond.
Roopa Panesar
One of the UK’s finest sitar players, Roopa Panesar returns for a concert of Indian classical music, collaborating with trailblazing Indian classical and contemporary musicians.
Hildegard Transfigured: Medieval Trance for the 21st Century
The soaring, timeless 12th century arabesques of Hildegard of Bingen meet 21st century transfiguration in Voice Trio’s intimate and illuminating portrait.
Rolf Hind: Sky in a Small Cage
Direct from the Copenhagen Opera Festival, Mahogany Opera opens our season with the UK premiere of Rolf Hind’s much-anticipated new work inspired by the influential Sufi mystic and poet, Rumi.
Philip Glass: Cocteau Trilogy
Legendary sibling pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque present their recent collaboration with American minimalist composer Philip Glass: arrangements for two pianos of his Cocteau Trilogy.
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.
