Sound Unbound 2019
Join us for a free music festival of unexpected sounds in unexpected places.
Music will burst from the Barbican and out across Culture Mile’s architectural gems with a line-up of artists for whom the boundaries between classical and contemporary, experimental and jazz are blurred – or never even existed in the first place.
Kick back to the music of Steve Reich on the Barbican Lakeside. Discover the symphony that changed music forever with Stephen Fry. Watch the Academy Award-winning film The Artist with music performed by a live orchestra. And hear the music of Philip Glass reimagined by electronica producer Max Cooper.
From authentic medieval sounds to hypnotic minimalist masterpieces, there are over 100 sessions, installations and more to explore – and you can tap into any of them for free.
Some sessions have limited capacity, and access is on a first-come, first-served basis
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Discover
Listen: Sound Unbound playlist
A teaser of the music you could hear at this year’s Sound Unbound
Barbican Sessions: Christoph Sietzen
For our latest Barbican Session, percussionist Christoph Sietzen performs in an empty Cinema 1.
Listen: Sound Unbound DJ Mix
Listen to G Prokofiev & Classical Mechanics' Sound Unbound DJ Mix.
Watch: Sound Unbound
A free music festival of unexpected sounds in unexpected places.
Barbican Sessions: Bartosz Glowacki
Accordionist Bartosz Glowacki performs the animated third movement ‘Thieves’ from Five views on the Archipelago Gulag by Ukrainian composer Victor Vlasov in the entrance to the Exhibition Halls.
Watch: Max Cooper and Bruce Brubaker on Glassforms
Bruce Brubaker and Max Cooper talk about Glassforms.
Reserve your free seats
with BBC Symphony Orchestra
Explore the programme
Head here for our headliners. Our 2000-seater concert hall is the place to hear everything from minimalist sounds reimagined to iconic music you’ll probably recognise – including Carl Orff’s explosive choral work Carmina Burana. Stephen Fry introduces the symphony that changed classical music forever, Beethoven’s Eroica. The charismatic Miloš blends classical guitar with the Beatles. And the soundtrack is the star in the Academy Award-winning love-letter to the silent film era The Artist (PG), screened here with a live performance of its toe-tapping score.
Saturday
12.30–1.20pm: Carmina Burana with London Symphony Chorus
4–4.40pm: Miloš + 12 ensemble – Bach to Beatles
8–10pm: The Artist, live in concert with BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sunday
12noon–1pm: Heroic Beethoven: Symphony No 3 introduced by Stephen Fry
2.30–3.10pm: Chineke! Orchestra – Elegy for Stephen Lawrence
4.45–5.25pm: Bach Recomposed with Peter Gregson
8–9.30pm: Max Cooper + Bruce Brubaker: Glassforms
Soak up the sun and relax by the fountains while you enjoy pop-up performances from the fun-loving Street Orchestra Live and two hypnotic minimalist masterpieces – Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint and Terry Riley’s In C.
Saturday
2–2.30pm: Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint with Dither + Zwerm
3.45–4.15pm: VolksMusica with Collectif9
5.30–6pm: Terry Riley: In C with Guildhall Artists
Sunday
1.45–2.15pm: Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint with Dither + Zwerm
4–4.30pm: Terry Riley: In C with Guildhall Artists
6–6.20pm: Street Orchestra Live
Wander among the greenery, koi carp and terrapins of our tropical oasis to the strains of Mozart’s heavenly Gran Partita and music inspired by birdsong. Or get caught up in the infectious dance rhythms of a Klezmer Wedding.
Saturday
2–2.40pm: Klezmer Wedding with Lakeside Clarinet Quartet
3.30–4.10pm: Three Strange Angels
5–5.40pm: Gone with the Wind
6.30–7.10pm: Three Strange Angels
Sunday
2–2.40pm: Klezmer Wedding
3.30–4.10pm: Musician Wren with Isha Chrichlow
4.10–4.20pm: ?Corporel with Tomyr Warcaba-Wood
5–5.40pm: Gone with the Wind
6.30–7.10pm: Three Strange Angels
7.10–7.20pm: ?Corporel with Vittorio Angelone
Explore the points where art, politics and contemporary culture intersect in Stalin’s Piano(*), as music duets with and plays off speeches by famous politicians, artists and personalities, from Jackson Pollock to Donald Trump. Gain a new perspective of Baroque song, reimagined as 21st-century singer-songwriter arrangements. And budding young film composers can learn the ropes of making music for the movies with film composer Laura Rossi at Family Film Club.
Saturday
11am–12.15pm: Family Film Club: Making Movie Music with Laura Rossi
3.30–4.30pm: Stalin’s Piano with Sonia Lifschitz
Sunday
1–2pm: Stalin’s Piano with Sonia Lifschitz
2.45–3.25pm: Nora Fischer + Marnix Dorrestein: HUSH
4–5pm: Stalin’s Piano with Sonia Lifschitz
Get up close to intimate performances in this acoustically-perfect hall. Join countertenor John Holiday as he demonstrates the versatility of the human voice in songs from the Baroque to Broadway via the Blues and romantic song; guitarist Miloš in a short concert bursting with Spanish and Latino rhythms; and the vivacious saxophonist and Classic Brit Award-winner Jess Gillam. Discover the meditative and calming qualities of the music of the 18th-century master J S Bach, reinvented for marimbas. And dive into an unsettling futuristic world, where Nora Fischer sings a story of secrets and paranoia in a Big Brother-like surveillance society.
Saturday
1–1.40pm: The Secret Diary of Nora Plain with Nora Fischer + Ragazze Quartet
2.30–3.10pm: The Secret Diary of Nora Plain with Nora Fischer + Ragazze Quartet
4.15–4.55pm: John Holiday: Dream Portraits 6.30–7.10pm: John Holiday: Dream Portraits
Sunday
1–1.40pm: Bach meets Marimbas with Academy of Ancient Music, Amy Dickson, Christoph Sietzen + Bogdan Bacanu
2.30–3.10pm: Bach meets Marimbas with Academy of Ancient Music, Amy Dickson, Christoph Sietzen + Bogdan Bacanu
4.30–5.10pm: Miloŝ in concert
6.15–6.55pm: Jess Gillam in concert
Take a time out in the tranquil Norfolk Garden, where you can rest or stroll through Pleasure Garden, an interactive ‘listening garden’ installation. Grab a bite to eat, and enjoy the pop up performances around you.
Saturday
1.30–2pm: Elysium Brass
2.30–2.50pm: Street Orchestra Live
3.30–4pm: Elysium Brass
4.30–4.50pm: Street Orchestra Live
Sunday
1.30–2pm: Elysium Brass
2.30–2.50pm: Street Orchestra Live
3.30–4pm: Elysium Brass
4.30–4.50pm: Street Orchestra Live
Hear the pop music of the 17th-century in 21st-century singer-songwriter arrangements, and Baroque trios in the ornate Great Chamber.
Saturday
1–1.40pm: Atom Hearts Club with Christoph Sietzen + Bogdan Bacanu
3–3.40pm: Atom Hearts Club
5–5.40pm: Brasiliana with Lotte Betts-Dean + Andrey Lebedev
Sunday
1–1.40pm: Music for a while with Academy of Ancient Music + John Holiday
3–3.40pm: Drum with the backe of your bow with Liam Byrne
4.15–4.55pm: Weaver of Fictions with Genevieve Lacey
6–6.40pm: HUSH by Nora Fischer + Marnix Dorrestein
Hear authentic medieval sounds from Gregorian chant at twilight to music for singers and lute, as well as reimaginings of early music to bring it into the 21st century in the intimate Chapel.
Saturday
1.30–2.10pm: Weaver of Fictions with Genevieve Lacey
2.45–3.25pm: Drum with the backe of your bow with Liam Byrne
4–4.40pm: Weaver of Fictions with Genevieve Lacey
5.30–5.55pm: Gregorian Chant at Twilight with BBC Singers
6.30–7.10pm: Sacred Bones Sackbut Ensemble
Sunday
1.45–2.25pm: Listen, Lovers! with Helen Charlston + Toby Carr
3–3.40pm: Drum with the backe of your bow with Liam Byrne
4.15–4.55pm: Weaver of Fictions with Genevieve Lacey
6–6.40pm: HUSH by Nora Fischer + Marnix Dorrestin
Experience English Renaissance music reborn for a digital age with the electric guitar group Zwerm in one of the City’s few remaining medieval churches. And Mendelssohn’s romantic String Octet exploring the ecstasy, elation and anguish of young love is paired with an arrangement of Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros’s Fljótavík, both played by the dynamic young 12 ensemble.
Saturday
1.15–1.55pm: Young Love from 12 ensemble
3–3.40pm: Bach Recomposed by Peter Gregson
4.30–5.10pm: Bach Recomposed by Peter Gregson
6.45–7.25pm: Electric Renaissance from Zwerm
Sunday
1–1.40pm: Sacred Bones Sackbut Ensemble
3–3.40pm: No Time for Chamber Music from Collectif9
5–5.40pm: Electric Renaissance from Zwerm
Grab an instrument and join the Junior Guildhall Big Gig – a fun-filled musical workshop open to people of all ages and abilities, from new starters to rusty veterans. No instrument? No problem – just bring yourself and join the choir or percussion section as you work together to write a new piece of music.
To reserve your seat in the orchestra/choir please email junior@gsmd.ac.uk stating the number of places you wish to reserve and what instruments (if any) you will bring.
Step into an immersive performance experience created by composer Amir Konjani, which draws on music, video art and performance sculpture to transform space, imagine new instruments and redefine the concert experience in this 18th-century Grade-1 listed church. And cutting-edge string ensembles explore an extensive range of music from Mahler, Tavener and Prokofiev to arrangements of powerful works of modern-day songwriting, alongside music for the movie There will be blood by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.
Saturday
2–2.30pm, 3–30pm, 4–4.30pm: To be Someone Else is a Battle by Amir Konjani
Sunday
1–1.40pm: Ragazze Quartet: EtherQuartet
2.30–3.10pm: Jayson Gillham: The Joy of Piano
4–4.40pm: Jayson Gillham: The Joy of Piano
6–6.40pm: 12 ensemble: Altered States
Take your family on an interactive, musical time-travelling journey from the Victorian era into the future, among exhibits telling the ever-changing story of this great world city and its people. Introduce your young ones to the sounds of the cello and the clarinet, immerse yourself in London sounds and get hands on by contributing your unique sound to a live-mixed performance experiment.
Saturday & Sunday
11 & 11.45am, 12.30, 2.15, 2.45 & 3.30pm
Be whisked around the world in the intimate cocktail and champagne bar tucked away below Long Lane in Smithfield. Featuring a Braziliana bossa nova performance, an accordion tango concert and a mesmerising ambient and electronic improvised performance by pianist Tom Rogerson from his collaborative album 'Finding Shore' with Brian Eno.
Saturday
1.15–1.55pm: Brasiliana with Lotte Betts-Dean + Andrey Lebedev
2.15–3.40pm: Tom Rogerson: Finding Shore
4–4.40pm: History of Tango with Bartosz Glowacki
Sunday
1.15–2.15pm: Tom Rogerson: Finding Shore
2.30–3.10pm: History of Tango with Bartosz Glowacki
3.45–4.40pm: Tom Rogerson: Finding Shore
5–5.40pm: Brasiliana with Lotte Betts-Dean + Andrey Lebedev
Check out the best in new classical, electronic and experimental music – nonclassical take over one of London's most beloved nightclubs, putting their sound system to the test with experimental electronics, turntablist strings, short films, and a musical safari from nonclassical DJs.
Saturday
1.30–2pm: nonclassical @ fabric
2–2.40pm: nonclassical @ fabric: Tom Richards
2.45–2.55pm: ?Corporel with Tomyr Warcaba-Wood
2.55–4pm: nonclassical @ fabric
4–4.40pm: nonclassical @ fabric: Mira Calix
4.40–4.50pm: ?Corporel with Vittorio Angelone
4.50–6pm: nonclassical @ fabric
6–6.40pm: nonclassical @ fabric: Shiva Feshareki & Addelam
6.40–7pm: nonclassical @ fabric
Visit London’s oldest parish church for a mixture of peaceful, reflective choral music and performances responding to the space and its features. Organist James McVinnie makes a nod to St Barts’ history as a notable period-film location in For Weddings and a Funeral. And sackbut ensemble Sacred Bones give a theatrical performance of Purcell funeral music in the churchyard.
Saturday
1–1.50pm: Songs for the Soul with BBC Singers
1.50–2.20pm: Sacred Bones Sackbut Ensemble
2.45–3.35pm: Songs for the Soul with BBC Singers
5.15–5.55pm: For Weddings and a Funeral with James McVinnie
5.55–6.15pm, Churchyard: Street Orchestra Live
Sunday
2–2.40pm: SANSARA: Vox Machina
3.15–3.45pm: For Weddings and a Funeral with James McVinnie
4–4.40pm: SANSARA: Vox Machina
5.30–6pm, Churchyard: Sacred Bones Sackbut Ensemble
In a new commission from the Barbican, These Wondering Stones follows the mysterious weaver of Cloth Fair, who spends her days weaving the fabric of the City of London’s rich history, every thread of every life bound together in a magnificent, shimmering, perfect tapestry. That is, until the impetuous Lettice accidentally rips a hole as long as the Thames itself, right through the tapestry’s heart. Lettice will need your help on an epic quest in this promenade opera, as she attempts to gather the stories of the Londoners whose lives she has torn apart.
Cast: Susan Young, April Koyejo Audiger & Nathan Mercieca
Music by Clare Elton, Words by Lila Palmer
Directed by Anna Pool, Musically Directed by James Garner, Designed by Kitty Callister
Saturday
12.30–1.30pm, 2.45–3.45pm & 4.30–5.30pm
Sunday
2.45–3.45pm, 4.30–5.30pm & 6–7pm
Celebrate the flair of the Brazilian bossa nova, the unmistakable, evocative sounds of the Spanish guitar, and love in the ancient world in intimate duets for voice and lute with outstanding young musicians from the City Music Foundation. Explore the anatomy of the versatile accordion, a one-man portable orchestra. And take a glimpse into an unimaginable medical past through the eyes of Bach, Handel, and medieval polymath Hildegard von Bingen, all in the surrounds of this beautiful 15th-century church hidden away in the heart of the City.
Saturday
2–2.40pm: An Eye for Music from Tabea Debus + Paula Chateauneuf
3.30–4.10pm: Viva España! with Andrey Lebedev
4.45–5.25pm: An Eye for Music from Tabea Debus + Paula Chateauneuf
6–6.40pm: The Anatomy of the Accordion with Bartosz Glowacki
Sunday
2–2.40pm: Viva España! with Andrey Lebedev
3.30–4.10pm: An Eye for Music from Tabea Debus + Paula Chateauneuf
4.45–5.25pm: Listen, Lovers! from Helen Charlston + Toby Carr
6–6.40pm:The Anatomy of the Accordion with Bartosz Glowacki
Harnessing the sound of four Culture Mile Bells, Guildhall School Singers and Electronic Musicians present a new song cycle exploring the juxtaposition, morphing and manipulation of two diverse yet historically related sound-worlds in the Gresham Centre, formally St Anne and St Agnes Church.
Saturday & Sunday
2–2.30pm, 3–3.30pm & 4–4.30pm
A Culture Mile Event.
Sound Unbound is a joint project between the Barbican, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Academy of Ancient Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Thanks to The Charterhouse, St Bartholomew the Great, St Bartholomew the Less, City Music Foundation, St Giles’ Cripplegate, LSO St Luke’s, fabric, Dutch Performing Arts and Classical Futures Europe for their kind support.
The Artist is screened by kind permission of Entertainment Film Distributors Ltd. Wilton Diptych video reproduced by permission of Smarthistory.
Barbican and Culture Mile
Locations
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
St Giles' Cripplegate, Fore Street, EC2Y 8DA
SIlk Street Music Hall, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
Milton Court Concert Hall, 1 Milton Street, EC2Y 9BH
Piano Smithfield, 14 Long Lane, EC1A 9PN
St Bartholomew the Great, Cloth Fair, EC1A 7JQ
St Bartholomew the Less, 57A W Smithfield, EC1A 9DS
Smithfield Rotunda, West Smithfield, EC1A 9DY
Fabric, 77A Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6HJ
Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, EC1M 6AN
Gresham Centre, Gresham Street, EC2V 7BX
Museum of London, 150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN
LSO St Luke’s, 161 Old Street, EC1V 9NG
