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Classical music

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

Highlights

Darbar
Bharathi Prathap singing, sitting cross-legged and wearing colourful clothes
Darbar
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Plants in water
Event
Classical music Contemporary music

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 Hermes Experiment:
Héloïse Werner voice
Oliver Pashley clarinet
Anne Denholm-Blair harp
Marianne Schofield double bass
Sandeep Bhagwati music director
Sonic essayists
Monthati Masebe
Bint Mbareh
Kathy Hinde
Martha Hincapié Charry
Sandeep Bhagwati
Hanna Grześkiewicz curator
Violist Antoine Tamestit in front of a black background imitating playing his instrument without the actual instrument being there. His eyes are closed.
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano

Tchaikovsky faces his demons in the fate-filled Fourth Symphony, before the ravishing pastoral music of English composer Vaughan Williams with soloist Antoine Tamestit.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikosvky Symphony No 4
Ralph Vaughan Williams Flos Campi for Viola & Chorus
Ralph Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
Antoine Tamestit viola
London Symphony Chorus
Marian Consort dressed in black
Event
Classical music

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.

Rodrigo de Ceballos Hortus Conclusus
Amy Bryce Madrigals for Plants
Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla Missa Ego flos campi – Kyrie and Gloria
Sebastián de Vivanco Veni dilecte mi
Benjamin Britten Flower Songs
Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla Missa Ego flos campi – Credo
Tomás Luis de Victoria Vidi speciosam
Sebastián de Vivanco Sicut lilium
Leo Chadburn Flower Dictionary
Francisco Guerrero Ego flos campi
The Marian Consort vocal ensemble
Sir Antonio Pappano standing on the podium on the Barbican stage, facing the audience and talking into a microphone
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra: Half Six Fix – Vaughan Williams

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

Ralph Vaughan Williams Flos Campi for Viola and Chorus
Ralph Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
Antoine Tamestit viola
London Symphony Chorus
Antoine Tamestit facing the camera, holding a viola upright and facing forwards, in front of the side of his face
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano

Thea Musgrave paints with radiant colours, Walton gives flight to the viola, and Vaughan Williams dreams of London.

Thea Musgrave Phoenix Rising
William Walton Viola Concerto
Ralph Vaughan Williams A London Symphony (Symphony No 2)
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
Antoine Tamestit viola
Image of Adrian Scarborough
Event
Classical music

A Christmas Odyssey

Following the success of their festive 'Live from London' collab in 2024, Adrian Scarborough (History Boys, Gavin and Stacey) joins the BBC Singers on a Christmas journey of carols & literature.

Arcadi Volodos sitting at the piano
Event
Classical music

Arcadi Volodos in Recital

The Russian born master pianist Arcadi Volodos returns to the Barbican for a journey to the heart of the Romantic spirit.

Franz Schubert Sonata in A major D959
Robert Schumann Davidsbündlertänze Op 6
Franz Liszt arr. Volodos Hungarian Rhapsody No 13 in A minor, S. 244/13
Arcadi Volodos piano
A painting of a young woman and donkey
Event
Classical music

Academy of Ancient Music: Handel's Messiah

Laurence Cummings and Academy of Ancient Music perform Handel’s Messiah – a Christmas tradition that they’ve made their own.

George Frederic Handel Messiah
Academy of Ancient Music
Nardus Williams soprano
Reginald Mobley alto
Thomas Walker tenor
Ashley Riches bass
Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord
Sir Antonio Pappano conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, facing the Orchestra on the conductor's podium, with both hands raised in the air
Event
Classical music

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano

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

Programme to be announced
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor
An image of Roderick Williams surrounded by a green circle against a green background
Event
Classical music

MacMillan's Christmas Oratorio

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

James MacMillan Christmas Oratorio
BBC Symphony Orchestra
James MacMillan conductor
Rhian Lois soprano
Roderick Williams baritone
BBC Symphony Chorus
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.

Claude Debussy Ibéria
Karim Al-Zand City Scenes
Anna Clyne DANCE for cello and orchestra
Maurice Ravel Rapsodie Espagnole
The National Youth Orchestra
Alexandre Bloch conductor
Inbal Segev cello
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

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

Leoš Janáček The Makropulos Affair (concert performance)
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Marlis Petersen Emilia Marty
Aleš Briscein Albert Gregor
Jan Martiník Dr Kolenatý
Peter Hoare Vitek
Svatopluk Sem Baron Jaroslav Prus
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.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Fantasy-Overture, 'Hamlet'
Joseph Phibbs Cello Concerto
Mel Bonis Ophélie
Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier Suite
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Clemens Schuldt conductor
Guy Johnston cello
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. 

Béla Bartók Violin Concerto No 2
Béla Bartók Five Hungarian Folksongs for Voice and Orchestra (1933)
Manuel de Falla The Three Cornered Hat – Ballet
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin
Rinat Shaham mezzo-soprano