What’s on

Relive the golden age of Hollywood with music by some of cinema’s most brilliant and influential composers.

Sir James MacMillan conducts a starry performance of his huge, life-affirming Christmas Oratorio – music that speaks to listeners of all faiths and none.

Join us as The National Youth Orchestra takes to the stage for a massive orchestral experience, alongside conductor Alexandre Bloch and cellist Inbal Segev.

A 300-year-old woman confronts mortality, identity and lost love in this concert performance of Janáček’s intense operatic drama.

A 300-year-old woman confronts mortality, identity and lost love in this concert performance of Janáček’s intense operatic drama.

Clemens Schuldt and the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform Shakespearean classics, Strauss at his most sumptuous, and a new British concerto for cellist Guy Johnston.

Two showcases of Bartók’s unbridled passion for Hungarian folk music, plus de Falla’s sun-drenched tale of love and deception. 

Step into a kaleidoscopic world of sound as one of the UK’s leading new-music ensembles, Riot Ensemble, brings an electrifying programme by a new generation of creatives.

US composer Julia Wolfe’s major new work unEarth receives its UK premiere at the Barbican, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, National Youth Voices, and Danish soprano Else Torp.

Subtle elegance and introspection infuse Mozart’s late piano concerto, while Brahms brings hope and solace in times of loss. 

An exhilarating re-imagining of Holst's The Planets for folk duo and orchestra, interspersed by text written and narrated by acclaimed writer Robert Macfarlane.  

The world-renowned duo of violinist Maxim Vengerov and pianist Polina Osetinskaya take to the Barbican stage for an evening that sets the gold standard for contemporary duet performance.

Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja revels in a modernist masterwork, before Rachmaninoff’s tempestuous Symphony No 2, full of Romantic ardour. 

Music that glitters, sings and dances for joy, as Sakari Oramo pairs two newly minted classics with Beethoven’s brightest symphony.

Reflecting on the powerful words of the late Kiribati poetess and activist Teresia Teaiwa, Lemi Ponifasio's Sea Beneath the Skin creates a poignant performance featuring the Theatre of Kiribati.

Love, death and pomegranates: Sakari Oramo rediscovers Stravinsky’s epic retelling of the myth of Persephone.

A world premiere concerto from one of Britain’s finest composers, folk-inspired celebration of dance by Bartók plus Rachmaninoff’s late and great orchestral showstopper. 

Bask in the Romantic flavours of Borodin’s folk-inspired Second Symphony, Stravinsky’s sublime neo-Classical homage to Tchaikovsky, and dazzling, deeply felt Chopin. 

Academy of Ancient Music performs Monteverdi’s genre-defying Madrigals of Love and War. Unrequited passion has never sounded sweeter. 

Rachmaninoff, Bernstein and Davóne Tines – a fresh perspective on America’s past, present and future from Daniele Rustioni and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Bask in the Romantic flavours of Borodin’s folk-inspired Second Symphony, Stravinsky’s sublime neo-Classical homage to Tchaikovsky, and dazzling, deeply felt Chopin. 

Tamara Stefanovich presets Labyrinth - a curated sequence including works by JS Bach (Art of Fugue), Claude Debussy (Preludes), Franz Liszt and Gyorgy Kurtag (Jatekok).

Ensemble Modern is a curious loudspeaker for music of our times: courageous, uncompromising, energetic. An essential, aesthetically polyglot amplifier for trend-setting sound concepts.

Alongside his monumental installations combining video and electronic sounds, Japan’s leading electronic composer and visual artist Ryoji Ikeda has also been working on pure acoustic sounds projects.

An exciting premiere of the joint musical composition by acclaimed Japanese visual artist and composer Ryoji Ikeda and the Solem Quartet. 

In 2024 Ryoji Ikeda created music for choir for the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste, as part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024. 

Austrian cellist and ECHO Rising Star Valerie Fritz performs with acclaimed Bosnion accordionist Goran Stevanovich in the atmospheric setting of LSO St Luke’s. 

Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert. Introduced by the performers, with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action. 

Two of Debussy’s restless, impressionistic Nocturnes, Berg’s anguished Violin Concerto; plus Rachmaninoff’s sweeping early symphony, full of youthful energy. 

Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, and a UK premiere from Julia Adolphe. Big emotions and natural wonders from Kristiina Poska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.