Press room

David August 

The Italian-German producer, label-owner, multi-instrumentalist and DJ David August delivers an evening of a kinetic audiovisual live experience as he brings his latest project, VĪS, to the Barbican in December 2023.  

A prolific emerging voice in electronic music, David August gained global acclaim in the early 2010s, performing a solo session for Boiler Room and releasing an array of musical offerings. August went on to establish his own label, 99CHANTS, in 2018 – an open-minded platform that brought him the opportunity to work with esteemed artists like Lena Platonos, KMRU and Bunita Marcus. What followed was a sophisticated honing of style and artistic language. When the world went on pause in early 2020, August had the chance to question the role of music and art during a global crisis, and develop his craft more holistically. VĪS (Latin for “energy” or “force”) is the result of a lengthy process of self-discovery, collaboration and research. 

Plato's words "everything is becoming and never is" gave August the foundation for VĪS, his ambitious latest undertaking. VĪS is a sprawling multi-disciplinary chronicle that imagines an alternative evolution of mankind through sound. With its own ‘Imaginary Alphabet’ (created by Moroccan artist Hiba Baddou), an interactive website, an art book and an audio-visual live show, the album (99CHANTS in association with !K7, 2023) is far more than just music with its suggestion that it is movement and imagination that drives us forward. VĪS arrives as part of August's commitment to collaboration and follows work with jazz-noise vocalist and composer Cansu Tanrikulu as Aşa, and Carnatic vocalist Sushma Soma as Madrā.   

For this special Barbican performance, August will be collaborating with choreographer Franka Marlene Foth, scenographer MFO / Marcel Weber and percussionist Andrea Belfi. 

David August has performed with the likes of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and remixed artists from Max Cooper to Bunita Marcus. August has appeared at Primavera Sound, Sonar, Montreux Jazz and Dour Festival and headlined shows at London’s Roundhouse, Berlin’s Columbiahalle and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. 

On sale to Barbican members and patrons on 10am Wednesday 5th July  

On general sale on 10am Friday 7th July 

Produced by the Barbican in association with Dollop 

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Hauschka  

At the peak of his compositional powers, BAFTA and Academy Award-winning composer Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann) brings his latest project and distinctive piano music to Milton Court Concert Hall.  

In November 2023, the Barbican welcomes back the renowned German pianist to Milton Court Concert Hall to perform material from his forthcoming album Philanthropy (released 20 October on City Slang). Philanthropy is Hauschka’s 14th studio album and first release in four years. Unquestionably conveying “a love of humankind” through the compassion and openness of the new music, the album is a carefully considered but jubilantly improvised response to the uncertainty of recent years.  

Discussing the album, Hauschka says: 

“After the last couple of years where everybody was thinking about how life would continue, I felt the urge to release a record that would help open the windows a little. I wanted to be positive, to put some energy into the music, not just play slow, depressed pieces.” 

Revisiting how he worked as a solo pianist at the beginning of his career, most of the new album was recorded alone at his piano in his studio in early summer 2022. Though Philanthropy is led by the ever-changing and distinctive sound of Hauschka’s prepared piano, the album also goes beyond the keyboard to employ a Turkish davoul drum, as well as featuring synthesizers, especially a bass synth, more prominently than ever. The album also features contributions from cellist Laura Wiek, violinist Karina Buschinger, and Múm’s drummer, Samuli Kosminen thus marking a heartfelt occasion for celebration and reflection altogether.  

In recent years, Hauschka has also built a prolific career writing scores for films, including All Quiet on the Western Front for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. He has also written the scores for Lion, Adrift, In Dubious Battle, and music for the US TV mini-series Patrick Melrose starring Benedict Cumberbatch. His music never ceases to venture into new experimental arrangements too: from the electronica approach of A Different Forest (2019), to global questions about the future on What If (2017), or the proliferation and decay of urban life on Abandoned City (2014) as well as numerous projects in the fields of theatre, dance and classical ensemble works.  

On sale to Barbican members and patrons on 10am Wednesday 5th July  

On general sale on 10am Friday 7th July 

Produced by the Barbican  

Find out more