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Life Rewired

The Barbican’s 2019 Season, Life Rewired, explores what it means to be human when technology is changing everything. Featured music events in autumn 2019 include:

Max Cooper: Yearning for the Infinite
Sat 28 Sep 2019, Barbican Hall, 8.30pm
Tickets £17.50 - £22.50 plus booking fee

Yearning for the Infinite is a project by London-based electronica and techno producer Max Cooper about our human obsession with the unobtainable, and its embodiment in the modern data explosion. Cooper has long been fascinated by the concept of infinity in many areas of life such as religion and cult (Kabbalah and the divine infinite), mathematics (limits, irrational numbers and Cantorian set theory), visual arts (perspective and illusion in painting) and music (infinite harmonic series). All topics are tackled via an entirely new live visual performance and musical score, commissioned by the Barbican.
Max Cooper: Yearning for the Infinite is part of the Barbican’s 2019 season, Life Rewired, which explores what it means to be human when technology is changing everything.
Produced by the Barbican
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Orange Juice for the Ears: From Space Beams to Anti-Streams
An evening of film, live performance and conversation with Beatie Wolfe 
Tue 8 Oct 2019, Cinema 1, 7.30pm
Tickets £12.50 plus booking fee

This special evening features the retro-future work of Anglo-American singer songwriter and technology innovator Beatie Wolfe in film, live performance and conversation, exploring what music can look like in the digital age and asking what has been lost due to technological advances, what can be reclaimed, and what remains to be updated and innovated?
Orange Juice for the Ears: From Space Beams to Anti-Streams is part of the Barbican’s 2019 season, Life Rewired, which explores what it means to be human when technology is changing everything.
Produced by the Barbican
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Holly Herndon: PROTO
Wed 16 Oct 2019, Barbican Hall, 8pm
Tickets £17.50 – 22.50 plus booking fee

Holly Herndon’s vision of a digital future, and technology’s potential to guide our experience through this, is distinct and her own. This autumn she returns to the Barbican’s music programme with a specially assembled ensemble following the release of her third album PROTO (now out on 4AD). 
A hybrid of studio project and touring band, Herndon’s Barbican presentation incorporates an expanded vocal ensemble, reflections and refractions of Spawn (a nascent machine intelligence, housed in a modified gaming PC), and a newly developed A/V experience. For the album and PROTO live shows, Holly, artist/philosopher Matthew Dryhurst and ensemble developer Jules LaPlace have developed custom, and unprecedented AI processes for sound generation, vocal processing and visual manipulation, exploring new forms of communion that continually evolve further.
Holly Herndon: PROTO is part of the Barbican’s 2019 season, Life Rewired, which explores what it means to be human when technology is changing everything.
Produced by the Barbican
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Ada Lovelace: Imagining the Analytical Engine
Sat 2 Nov 2019, Milton Court Concert Hall, 6.30pm
Tickets £15 – 36 plus booking fee

Emily Howard curator, Marta Fontanal-Simmons mezzo-soprano, Britten Sinfonia, Laura Tunbridge librettist (Ada Sketches)
Composer Emily Howard curates an evening of new music and discussion inspired by the life and work of Ada Lovelace, an early pioneer of the computer. Howard, who has a background in mathematics and computer science, pays tribute to a woman, who united the worlds of 19th-century romanticism and cutting-edge science: Ada Lovelace explored far-reaching mathematical concepts and worked with Charles Babbage on his revolutionary Difference Engine, writing what is now recognised to be the world’s first computer programme. This evening at Milton Court combines words and music to offer a perspective on Lovelace’s legacy and achievement, with input from expert panellists Ursula Martin, Sydney Padua and Miranda Seymour. Britten Sinfonia performs the programme of world premieres of Barbican commissioned, scientifically inspired works by Patricia Alessandrini, Shiva Feshareki as well as the world premiere of a new work by Emily Howard herself. The evening also features music created entirely by artificial intelligence, written in tribute to Lovelace, from the team at PRiSM (the interdisciplinary research centre for Practice & Research in Science & Music at the RNCM conservatoire in Manchester) led by Robert Laidlow.
Ada Lovelace: Imagining the Analytical Engine is part of the Barbican’s 2019 season, Life Rewired, which explores what it means to be human when technology is changing everything.
Part of Barbican Presents
Supported by PRS Foundation's Open Fund for Organisations
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Electronica 
The Barbican’s trademark mix of cerebral electronica offerings includes the following projects this autumn:  

Max Cooper: Yearning for the Infinite
Sat 28 Sep 2019, Barbican Hall, 8.30pm
Tickets £17.50 - £22.50 plus booking fee
See Life Rewired section above for further info.
Produced by the Barbican
Find out more

Orange Juice for the Ears: From Space Beams to Anti-Streams
An evening of film, live performance and conversation with Beatie Wolfe 
Tue 8 Oct 2019, Cinema 1, 7.30pm
Tickets £12.50 plus booking fee
See Life Rewired section above for further info.
Produced by the Barbican
Find out more

Holly Herndon: PROTO
Wed 16 Oct 2019, Barbican Hall, 8pm
Tickets £17.50 – 22.50 plus booking fee
See Life Rewired section above for further info.
Produced by the Barbican
Find out more 

Alessandro Cortini / Suzanne Ciani  
Sat 19 Oct 2019, Barbican Hall, 8pm 
Tickets £17.50 – 22.50 plus booking fee

Italian musician, songwriter and producer Alessandro Cortini’s new album Volume Massimo will be out on Mute on 27 September 2019. Barbican audiences can experience the live presentation of the Volume Massimo album – featuring a new A/V show – on 19 October.
Cortini’s music casts the listener into an intricately rendered vortex of emotive dynamics, where he expertly maximises the boundaries of contemporary electronic music, both in his solo work and as a member of industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails. The new album, Volume Massimo, combines his fondness for melody with the rigour of experimental practice, striking a balance between analogue composition and cathartic dissonance.
Also appearing in this evening’s performance is American composer, electronic music pioneer, and neo-classical recording artist Suzanne Ciani, a five-time Grammy nominee who has, over the course of her 40-year career, released 20 solo albums, composed music for award-winning commercials, video games, and feature films and most recently released her comeback quadraphonic Buchla 200e modular performance LIVE Quadraphonic, a variation of which she will be presenting here. A Life in Waves, a documentary about Ciani's life and work, was released in 2017. Produced by the Barbican
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Tributes

The Barbican’s contemporary music programme this autumn sees tribute concerts to the ‘Queen of Soul’, Aretha Franklin and American singer-songwriter Lhasa de Sela; as well as projects paying tribute to iconic records including Sinéad O’Connor’s debut album The Lion And The Cobra and Tom Waits’ Swordfishtrombones.

Antibalas: Respect to Aretha 
Featuring Bettye LaVette, Alice Russell, Zara McFarlane, Nona Hendryx and José James 
Thu 12 Sep 2019, Barbican Hall, 8pm 
Tickets £20 – 30 plus booking fee 

Afrobeat ensemble Antibalas and special guest artists including American soul icon Bettye LaVette, American vocalists Nona Hendryx (Labelle) and José James, British soul singer Alice Russell and British jazz/soul singer-songwriter Zara McFarlane will honour the legacy of the ‘Queen of Soul’, Aretha Franklin, with a concert at the Barbican on 12 September 2019, featuring Franklin’s classic and timeless music.
A new Antibalas album is scheduled for September 2019.
Produced by the Barbican in association with Philharmonie de Paris
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LHASA
Tue 17 Sep 2019, Barbican Hall, 8pm 
Tickets £20 – 30 plus booking fee 

LHASA – a live project originally conceived at 37d03d festival in Berlin in August 2018 – comes to the Barbican this autumn. This special evening celebrates the life and work of the late Mexican-American singer-songwriter Lhasa de Sela. An eclectic line-up of artists including Andrew Barr (The Barr Brothers), Bryce Dessner (The National), Clarice Jensen (American Contemporary Music Ensemble), composer Dustin O'Halloran, musician Emma Broughton, musician and composer Joel Shearer, singer-songwriter Leslie Feist (Feist); singer-songwriter and guitarist Melissa Laveaux; Pauline DeLassus (Mina Tindle) and musician Todd Dahlhoff will bring Lhasa’s multi-lingual songs and music to life on the Barbican stage.
Produced by Sounds from a Safe Harbour and presented by the Barbican
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CHRISTEENE: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE COBRA
with special guest Fever Ray
Sun 22 Sept 2019, Barbican Hall, 8pm
Tickets £20 – 25 plus booking fee

In this special one-off Barbican night, entitled THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE COBRA, transgressive queer singer / performer CHRISTEENE pays tribute to Sinéad O’Connor, performing live her debut album The Lion And The Cobra.  CHRISTEENE will be joined on stage by her band, featuring musicians from Austin, TX and New York as well as her long-time collaborators, dancers T Gravel and Dawg Elf; and special guest artists including Fever Ray.  
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE COBRA is realised with art direction from Kamal Ackarie and BASURA producer Peter Stopschinski as musical director.  
Produced by the Barbican 
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Swordfishtrombones Revisited
Featuring Nadine Shah, Sarah Blasko, Lisa O’Neill and Dorian Wood 
Mon 28 Oct 2019, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm  
Tickets £20 – 35 plus booking fee 

Following on from his remarkable interpretation of Rain Dogs (Rain Dogs Revisited formed part of the Barbican’s contemporary music programme in 2011),  British multi-instrumentalist David Coulter now turns to another major opus by Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones – with an impressive team of musicians and special guests including LA singer and performance artist Dorian Wood, acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko, Mercury Prize nominee Nadine Shah and much-acclaimed folk singer Lisa O’Neill, in this world premiere performance at the Barbican this autumn. Some of the UK’s finest musicians will be joining David Coulter on stage: Terry Edwards (horns), Dave Okumu (guitar), Steve Nieve (piano), Tom Herbert (bass), Seb Rochford (drums) and Thomas Bloch (Ondes Martenot).
Produced by the Barbican
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UK & International Artists

Revered musicians from the UK, Europe or further afield will be showcased in a variety of performances in the Barbican’s autumn programme:
 

Marcel & Rami Khalifé
featuring Aymeric Westrich
Sun 29 Sep 2019, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm
Tickets £20 – 40 plus booking fee

Revered Lebanese composer, singer and oud master Marcel Khalifé makes a welcome return to the Barbican this autumn. Stripped back from his Al Mayadeen Ensemble he usually performs with, he will be joined only by his son Rami Khalifé on piano and French jazz drummer Aymeric Westrich, reinterpreting his familiar music in a new way as a trio.
Produced by the Barbican in association with Marsm
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Jenny Hval: The Practice of Love 
Sun 29 Sep 2019, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm  
Tickets £20 plus booking fee 

The Practice of Love is a new multidisciplinary immersion in music, literature, theatre and movement by Norwegian musician, composer and writer Jenny Hval. Based on material from Hval’s forthcoming album (out on 13 Sep 2019), the project explores sonic, visual and chorographical ideas, aiming to stage the writing process as a performative practice. With a multinational ensemble including experimental musicians, vocalists, dancers and video artists, this project extends Hval’s work into new and even more challenging territory. 
The Practice of Love is co-produced by Black Box teater and Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. The premiere is on 20 September 2019, Black Box teater/Ultima Festival. 
Presented by the Barbican in association with Bird on the Wire
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Senyawa 
Sun 27 Oct 2019, LSO St Luke’s, 7.30pm 
Tickets £17.50 – 20 plus booking fee 

Experimental band from Jogjakarta, Java in Indonesia, Senyawa make their Barbican programme debut at LSO St Luke’s this autumn. They embody the aural elements of traditional Indonesian music whilst exploring the framework of experimental music practice, pushing the boundaries of both traditions. Their music strikes a perfect balance between their avant-garde influences and cultural heritage to create new contemporary Indonesian music.
Their sound is comprised of Rully Shabara’s deft extended vocal techniques punctuating the frenetic sounds of instrument builder, Wukir Suryadi’s modern-primitive instrumentation.
In 2012 they completed Calling The New Gods • Senyawa Live in Java – a short film in collaboration with French filmmaker Vincent Moon. Their latest record Sujud was released in 2018 on the renowned esoteric music label Sublime Frequencies.
Produced by the Barbican in association with I-D.A Projects
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Ride 
Mon 9 Dec 2019, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm
Tickets £25 – 35 plus booking fee 

Oxford four-piece Ride’s upcoming This Is Not A Safe Place album UK tour will stop at the Barbican on 9 December 2019. The new album – their sixth studio album – will be out on Wichita Recordings on 16 August 2019.
One of the leading lights of the early 90’s shoegaze scene, Ride reformed in 2014, releasing their first album, Weather Diaries, in over 20 years in 2017 to great critical acclaim. For This Is Not A Safe Place the band gathered influences from sources such as the Jean-Michel Basquiat: Boom for Real recent exhibition at the Barbican and the post punk sound of The Fall and Sonic Youth. The result is an album which contains echoes of their earliest days as a band, and which also embraces their new-found creativity and rejuvenated dynamic at the same time.
Ride are Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence Colbert, and Steve Queralt.
Produced by the Barbican in association with Eat Your Own Ears 
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Special Projects & Collaborations

The Barbican has always been a great facilitator in bringing together artists for special collaborations and this autumn is no exception:

Hackney Colliery Band: Collaborations
Sat 5 Oct 2019, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm
Tickets £17.50 – 22.50 plus booking fee

This special Barbican autumn date sees the Hackney Colliery Band perform in collaboration with a host of key guest artists including father of Ethio-jazz Mulatu Astatke, Hip-Hop DJ and producer DJ Yoda, writer and performer Rob Auton, artist and writer YVA, composer and pianist Tom Rogerson and the Roundhouse Choir. Here they will present material from their recent album Collaborations: Volume One (featuring Mulatu Astatke and Angélique Kidjo) – their first new material since the critically-acclaimed Sharpener in 2016.
Produced by the Barbican
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Moor Mother with the London Contemporary Orchestra: The Great Bailout
Wed 23 Oct 2019, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm  
Tickets £20 plus booking fee 

In this first-time collaboration, Afro-futurist artist, musician and poet Camae Ayewa aka Moor Mother teams up with the London Contemporary Orchestra and conductor Robert Ames in a project of music and spoken word with the British slave industry as a core theme. Their collaboration, The Great Bailout, is aiming to demonstrate the rarely acknowledged links between the pavements we all walk on and the slave trade.
Produced by the Barbican
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Hannah Peel & Will Burns: Chalk Hill Blue 
+ On Vanishing Land 
Sat 26 Oct 2019, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm 
Tickets £20 plus booking fee 

Poet Will Burns and electronic composer Hannah Peel (who has just been nominated for an Emmy Award for her score for HBO’s Game of Thrones: The Last Watch in the category for outstanding music composition for a documentary series) will bring their collaborative project Chalk Hill Blue to the Barbican’s contemporary music programme in October. Released March 2019 (Rivertones) and recorded with producer/artist Erland Cooper, the album is a moving and original record exploring the troubled landscapes of England and the mind. Inspired by the chalk heaths of Buckinghamshire and the iridescent disappearing butterfly, poetry alongside Peel's analogue compositions, weave in and out of one another to entrancing and unsettling effect.
Their Milton Court date sees an expanded version of their collaboration and both artists will be joined on stage by a larger ensemble and special guest artists.
On Vanishing Land will be opening this evening’s performance. This project can be described as an audio-essay, which was the second audio-work collaboration by Justin Barton and the late Mark Fisher which will be released on Hyperdub’s new sub-label, Flatlines on 26 July 2019.
Produced by the Barbican
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Darbar Festival 2019

Sat 5 – Sun 13 October 2019, various venues 
Tickets £10 – 75 plus booking fee

Darbar Festival brings masters of Indian classical music and dance to the Barbican Centre and Sadler’s Wells this autumn. The Festival champions the finest improvised music around today and is dedicated to Bhai Gurmit Singh Ji Virdee (1937-2005), an inspirational teacher of the tabla. Darbar Festival was first established in 2006 in his memory. The 2019 Festival line-up at the Barbican features an array of world-class musicians and events including:

• Indian Music Appreciation Course (Sat 5 & Sun 6 Oct, Frobisher Rooms, 10am-6pm)
• Kala Ramnath + Tabla Grooves (Thu 10 Oct, Milton Court, 6.30pm)
• Sudha Ragunathan + Sarod Duet (Fri 11 Oct, Milton Court, 6.30pm)
• Morning Bliss with Gundecha Brothers (Sat 12 Oct, Milton Court, 10am)
• Yogabliss to live music (Sat 12 & Sun 13 Oct 2019, Frobisher Rooms, 12 noon Sat & 9.15am Sun)
• Afternoon Sarangi Soul (Sat 12 Oct, Milton Court, 2pm) 
• Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar + Jayanth Flute (Sat 12 Oct, Milton Court, 6.30pm)
• The Mighty Tanpura(s) by Gundecha Brothers (Sun 13 Oct, Fountain Room, 12noon)
• Panel Discussion: Women in Indian Classical Music (Sun 13 Oct, Fountain Room 2.30pm)
• Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee + Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (Sun 13 Oct, Barbican Hall, 5.30pm)

Produced by Darbar Arts Culture and Heritage Trust (Darbar) in partnership with the Barbican
 

EFG London Jazz Festival 2019

Produced by Barbican Associate Producer Serious, the festival features the best in jazz including jazz royalty to emerging artists. The concert offering at the Barbican includes:      

Nik Bärtsch & Sophie Clements: When The Clouds Clear 
A Light and Sound Poem
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2019
Fri 15 Nov 2019, Barbican Hall, 8.30pm 
Tickets £20 – 25 plus booking fee 

Pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch’s and visual artist Sophie Clements’ new collaborative audio-visual performance When The Clouds Clear is a meditation on elemental forces and cycles, featuring amplified solo piano, sculpture, film and installation design.
Inspired by a Zen poem entitled The Moon in the Water, the performance uses elements of water, light, reflections and music, all combined into one dramatic art and sound installation. The piano seemingly floats on top of a water tank on stage and a large screen behind shows filmed material of water in its various states, intercut with sharp graphical light effects.
Produced by the Barbican. Part of EFG London Jazz Festival  
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Herbie Hancock 
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2019
Sun 17 Nov 2019, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm 
Tickets £40 – 65 plus booking fee 

American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, his trademark keytar and band return to the Barbican and the EFG London Jazz Festival, following their appearance at the Centre in 2017, performing selections of his classic music from his extensive back catalogue.
Hancock is a true icon of modern music. Throughout his explorations, he has transcended limitations and genres while maintaining his unmistakable voice. With an illustrious career spanning over five decades and 14 Grammy™ Awards, including Album of the Year for River: The Joni Letters – an honour which only a handful of jazz musicians ever received – he continues to amaze audiences across the globe.
Herbie Hancock will also collaborate in a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel on Tue 19 Nov, as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival and the orchestra’s Barbican residency (18 – 20 Nov), celebrating the LA Phil’s centenary. Herbie Hancock is the Philharmonic’s Creative Chair for Jazz.
Produced by the Barbican by arrangement with Marshall Arts and Serious, part of EFG London Jazz Festival.
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Herbie Hancock with the Los Angeles Philharmonic / Dudamel
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2019
Part of Los Angeles Philharmonic International Orchestral Partner residency
Tue 19 Nov 2019, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm
Tickets £40 – 85 plus booking fee
Paul Desenne Guasamacabra (European premiere, LA Phil commission), Gabriela Ortiz Téenek, Invenciones de Territorio (European premiere, LA Phil commission), Herbie Hancock

Barbican International Orchestral Partner, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel comes to the Barbican for a residency from 18 – 20 November 2019. The orchestra celebrates its centenary this year and presents a cross-section of its illustrious history and commitment to new commissions during their residency, which includes this collaboration with legendary jazz pianist, and the Philharmonic’s Creative Chair for Jazz, Herbie Hancock. The evening’s programme begins with two European premieres and LA Phil commissions, one from Venezuelan composer Paul Desenne and another from Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz. The orchestra will then be joined by 14-time Grammy™ Award winner Herbie Hancock, who will perform selections of his own material with the orchestra as well as a full band set.
Produced by the Barbican
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The Art Ensemble of Chicago 
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2019
Sat 23 Nov 2019, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm 
Tickets £25 – 40 plus booking fee 

The Art Ensemble of Chicago has been at the forefront of creative improvised and African diasporic music – what they have long-termed “Great Black Music” – since 1969. This year the ensemble celebrates its 50th Anniversary at the Barbican with a tribute to its founder members Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman and Malachi Favors Maghostut as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival 2019. The evening will also feature some very special guest soloists tba.
Produced by the Barbican in association with EFG London Jazz Festival
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Contemporary-Classical

Collaborations, new commissions/works and special celebrations offer up rare musical experiences as part of the Barbican’s contemporary-classical music programme this autumn:  
 

Third Coast Percussion
Sat 21 Sep 2019, LSO St Luke’s, 8pm
Tickets £20 plus booking fee

Grammy Award-winning Chicago quartet Third Coast Percussion will give the UK premieres of Philip Glass’s Perpetulum – a new percussion piece commissioned by the group – and of their arrangement of Glass’s Madeira River. The concert also features UK premieres of Third Coast Percussion commissioned music by Devonté Hynes (Perfectly Voiceless) and Gavin Bryars (The Other Side of the River) alongside Steve Reich’s Mallet Quartet and David Skidmore’s Take Anything You Want and Torched and Wrecked.
Founded on 2005, Third Coast Percussion is an artist-run quartet of classically-trained percussionists, who perform regularly, teach and have commissioned a series of new works by composers including Glenn Kotche, Chris Cerrone, Donnacha Dennehy, Timo Andres, David T. Little, Ted Hearne, and Augusta Read Thomas. 
Produced by the Barbican
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Steve Reich/Gerhard Richter
Wed 23 Oct 2019, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm & 9.30pm
Tickets £21.50 – 26.50 plus booking fee
Reich/Richter (European premiere, Barbican and Britten Sinfonia co-commission)

Pioneering composer Steve Reich and Gerhard Richter, one of the most significant visual artists in modern art history, collaborate in this project that had its world premiere at The Shed in New York earlier this year. In 2012, Gerhard Richter published a book titled “Patterns”: Using a computer image of one of his abstract paintings, Richter divided it vertically into two halves and then divided those halves into quarters, making a mirror image of two of the quarters. He then divided the painting into fourths, eighths, 16ths, etc, up to 4096ths. Each step followed the same procedure of divide, mirror, and repeat, and it resulted in an abstract image that became a series of increasingly dense patterns, and eventually solid bands of colours. As part of Reich/Richter, there will be a film by Richter, made in collaboration with Corinna Belz, which applies this algorithmic process to his abstract painting 946-3 (from 2016). This film, for which Steve Reich wrote the music, is the “Patterns” book backwards: As the film progresses, the pixel count is multiplied. The music for the film follows that same structure. At the heart of the collaboration between Reich and Richter is a structural plan that can be applied equally to painting and music, forming an extraordinary installation. Britten Sinfonia conducted by Colin Currie performs Reich’s music, which also includes his 2016 piece Runner. Steve Reich will be in London for the European premiere and will be in conversation about this project and his music in general at a public talk on 22 October at LSO St Luke’s.
Part of Barbican Presents
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Philip Glass & the Philip Glass Ensemble
Music with Changing Parts 
Wed 30 Oct 2019, Barbican Hall, 8pm
Tickets £45 – 65 plus booking fee
SOLD OUT, returns only

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Philip Glass Ensemble will be revisiting one of Glass’ early masterpieces, the trailblazing Music with Changing Parts, featuring a rare chance to see the composer himself performing with his pioneering group. This new arrangement includes the Tiffin Chorus and players from the London Contemporary Orchestra.
Premiered in New York in 1970, Music with Changing Parts was a transitional work in Glass’s career. Melding electronic and acoustic instruments and voice, the piece saw Glass experiment with richer harmonies and increased contrapuntal complexity, hinting at the landmark piece that he was to create next – Music in 12 Parts. ­
Produced by the Barbican
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Ada Lovelace: Imagining the Analytical Engine
Sat 2 Nov 2019, Milton Court Concert Hall, 6.30pm
Tickets £15 – 36 plus booking fee
See Life Rewired section above for further info.
Find out more
 

Echo Collective plays Jóhann Jóhannsson's 12 Conversations with Thilo Heinzmann
Sun 3 Nov 2019, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm 
Tickets £20 plus booking fee 

Echo Collective perform Jóhann Jóhannsson’s 12 Conversations with Thilo Heinzmann – a piece left unfinished before the composer’s sudden and untimely death in February 2018. The work will be released as an album on Deutsche Grammophon on 20 September 2019 – a day after the Icelandic composer would have turned 50.
Based on conversations between Jóhannsson and German painter Thilo Heinzmann over the course of four years,12 Conversations explores themes of arts, politics and unity. The score – unusual for Jóhannsson’s output – is written for string quartet only, without the composer’s trademark electronic threads.
Having worked with the Echo Collective on his 2016 album Orphée, Jóhannsson invited the group to be involved in finishing the 12 Conversations piece.
Produced by the Barbican
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Folk

Karine Polwart brings her Scottish Songbook project to the Barbican this autumn:

Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook
Wed 27 Nov, Barbican Hall, 8pm
Tickets £17.50 – 25 plus booking fee

A sell-out hit at 2018’s Edinburgh International Festival and Celtic Connections in 2019, singer-songwriter and BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer Of The Year 2018 Karine Polwart brings her Scottish Songbook project to the Barbican this autumn.
Polwart will be joined on stage by long-term collaborators Steven Polwart (guitars) and Inge Thomson (accordion & percussion) alongside an extended band line-up also featuring Graeme Smillie (bass and keys), Calum McIntyre (kit and percussion) and Louis Abbott of Admiral Fallow (vocals, guitar & percussion). 
Reimagining songs from across fifty years of Scottish pop, the evening includes eighties classics from Deacon Blue, The Waterboys and Big Country, stadium balladry of Biffy Clyro, and maverick Ivor Cutler’s songs will be rubbing shoulders with the electro-pop of Chvrches and the song craft of John Martyn.
Produced by the Barbican
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Coming up in 2020 

Max Richter: Voices
Mon 17 & Tue 18 Feb 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
Tickets £35 – 45 plus booking fee
Find out more

Efterklang 
Sat 29 Feb 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm 
Tickets £20 – 25 plus booking fee 
Find out more

Alison Balsom plays Sketches of Spain
with Guildhall Jazz Ensemble
Wed 18 Mar 2020, Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm
Tickets £15 – 31 plus booking fee
Find our more

The Jungle
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
& London Symphony Orchestra / Rattle 
Sat 30 & Sun 31 May 2020, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm
Tickets £40 – 85 plus booking fee
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