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Classical music

Browse concerts from the Barbican Classical Music programme featuring leading orchestras and soloists from around the world.

Highlights

Image of a conductor with their back faced to the camera in the middle of space where two planets are colliding creating a flash of red electricity
Event
Classical music

The Music of Zimmer vs Williams

A cinematic battle of epic proportions. Prepare for an unforgettable evening as two of the greatest film composers of all time go head-to-head in The Music of Zimmer vs Williams in our Hall. 

Mid-performance image of the London Concert Orchestra with confetti falling everywhere
Event
Classical music

New Year’s Day Proms

Start 2026 in unforgettable style with the New Year’s Day Proms in our Hall a rousing celebration of classical favourites, uplifting anthems, and beloved operatic gems.

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
Event
Classical music

The National Youth Orchestra

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

Violinist performs at LSO St Luke's under a drape with purple projections on it
Event
Classical music Contemporary music

Jerwood Composer+ Showcase

One-of-a-kind performances curated and developed by early-career composers as part of LSO Jerwood Composer+.

Sir Simon Rattle standing on the podium on the Barbican stage, facing the audience and smiling, with the London Symphony Orchestra standing behind him
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle

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

An image of Guy Johnston surrounded by a red circle against a red backdrop
Event
Classical music

Clemens Schuldt conducts Strauss and Phibbs

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

Sir Simon Rattle with London Symphony Orchestra
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle

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

A blurred picture of a classical ensemble on stage
Event
Classical music

Riot Ensemble: Too Much is Never Enough

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.

Unearth
Event
Classical music

Julia Wolfe: unEarth

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.

Imogen Cooper
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck

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

Stevens and Pound
Event
Classical music

Britten Sinfonia/Stevens & Pound: Earth and other planets

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.  

Maxim Vengerov
Event
Classical music

Maxim Vengerov and Polina Osetinskaya in Recital

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.

Patricia Kopatchinskaja on stage at the Barbican Hall with her hand on her chest smiling
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Robert Treviño

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

An image of Elizabeth Bass surrounded by a green circle against a green background
Event
Classical music

Oramo conducts Beethoven's Fourth Symphony

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

Song of the Sea
Event
Classical music

Sea Beneath the Skin / Song of the Earth

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.