What’s on

Thu 14 May 2026, 19:00

Richard Strauss breathes dizzying life into 18th-century Vienna, Wagner recreates medieval Rome and Beethoven marries tenderness and high spirits. 

Thu 14 May 2026, 19:30

Academy of Ancient Music joins The Wave Quartet in an ingenious, audacious musical voyage across five centuries. 

Fri 15 May 2026, 19:30

Nederlands Kamerkoor bring to the Barbican their urgent new project Forgotten – a moving musical and theatrical exploration of living with dementia.

Sat 16 May 2026, 19:30

Anne-Sophie Mutter will celebrate her 50th anniversary on stage in 2026 and 2027, presenting a programme alongside fellow trio musicians Maximilian Hornung and Lauma Skride

Wed 20 May 2026, 18:30

Kick-start your evening with a 60-minute Half Six Fix concert, showcasing Mahler's Fourth Symphony, introduced by the performers and with screens in the hall to bring you closer to the action.

Thu 21 May 2026, 19:00

Serenity, beauty and the sense of an ending infuse music by Richard Strauss and Mahler, preluded by Gerhard’s immersive soundscapes. 

Sun 24 –Thu 28 May 2026

Sir Simon Rattle conducts four powerful moments from the final chapter of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, alongside his Siegfried Idyll.

Mon 1 Jun 2026, 19:30

Become immersed in the sounds of a different world with French ensemble Le Poème Harmonique, exploring the mystical, ceremonial energy at the heart of music from the Counter Reformation.

Sun 7 Jun 2026, 19:00

Spectacular cinematic scores from some of the biggest and most celebrated movies of all time – all originally recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. 

Wed 10 Jun 2026, 13:00

An opportunity to hear the award-winning Trio Concept performing a selection of piano pieces from Paris and beyond from across the last century.

Wed 10 Jun 2026, 18:30

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.

Thu 11 Jun 2026, 19:00

Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO journey from darkness to light in Mahler's rapturous Fifth Symphony, alongside Elgar's Enigma Variations.

Fri 19 Jun 2026, 19:00

Laurence Cummings directs Academy of Ancient Music and a world-class cast in a concert performance of Serse – Handel’s sensational opera of love and power in ancient Persia. 

Tue 23 Jun 2026, 19:30

World renowned Russian-Austrian pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja brings her dazzling technical prowess and exceptional musicality to the Barbican Hall for the first time in over a decade.

Wed 1 –Sun 12 Jul 2026

Wagner plunges the depths and rises to ecstatic heights in one of the greatest and most intense of operatic love stories.