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Aoife O’Donovan with Guildhall Session Orchestra  
+ Music Centre London Session Choir, and conductor Eric Jacobsen 

GRAMMY award-winning American singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan makes her Barbican Hall debut with a musical event 100 years in the making, joined by the Guildhall Session Orchestra, the Music Centre London Session Choir and conductor Eric Jacobsen. 

A century after American women won the right to vote, Aoife O'Donovan asks how much has really changed for them? This question lies at the heart of O’Donovan’s upcoming album All My Friends (March 22, 2024, Yep Roc Records) which she will be performing at the Barbican in June this year. Inspired by the passage of the 19th amendment and the evolving landscape of women’s rights in America over the past century, O’Donovan artfully draws on speeches and letters by suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt to write new, original songs infused with modern perspective and her own experiences as a woman and mother. Amidst a lush, genre-blurring soundscape featuring brass, orchestra, girls’ choir, and O’Donovan’s own “stunning” (Rolling Stone) voice.  

Aoife O’Donovan’s music radiates a timeless charm and contemporary allure and she returns now to the Barbican following a sold-out performance at Milton Court Concert Hall in 2022. Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Aoife (pronounced EE-fa) began her musical journey at a young age, eventually blossoming into a celebrated artist known for her captivating vocals and heartfelt compositions. With widespread recognition gained as a founding member of the progressive folk band Crooked Still, her trio supergroup I’m With Her with Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz and as a collaborator with renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile and Stuart Duncan, O’Donovan’s solo career has since flourished marked by critically-acclaimed albums like In the Magic Hour and 2022’s three-time GRAMMY-nominated Age of Apathy. 

Produced by the Barbican 
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Nils Frahm – Music For London   

Berlin-based pianist, composer and producer Nils Frahm returns to the Barbican in July 2024 for a four-night residency. He will bring his new Music For London project – part of a worldwide tour in which each show is dedicated to each city – presenting brand-new material that moves between the worlds of experimental, neo-classical, ambient and electronica. 

Nils Frahm’s unconventional approach to an age-old instrument, the piano, played contemplatively and intimately, and his sonic alchemy of ambient textures and atmospheric electronica, has won him many fans around the world. He is both an exceptional instrumentalist and a fascinating live musician who has toured extensively. His albums have garnered international acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and his live shows regularly sell out. 

Nils Frahm’s breakthrough album Felt was released on Erased Tapes Records in 2011, which was followed by a series of solo releases including Spaces in 2013 and All Melody in 2018. Nils has also recently launched his own label LEITER with his manager Felix Grimm – and during the Covid-19 lockdown, they released Old Friends New Friends, a selection of solo piano tracks from twelve years of his archives. 

In 2015, Frahm launched Piano Day (taking place on the 88th day of each year), an official global body created with his closest friends to celebrate the piano via various innovative, piano-related projects and concerts around the world. That same year, Frahm’s first film score release, Music For The Motion Picture Victoria written for the one-take feature film by Sebastian Schipper, won the esteemed German Film Prize for Best Soundtrack. Other film work includes a collaborative score with Woodkid for Ellis, a short film by French artist JR featuring Robert De Niro, as well as contributions to James Gray’sAd Astra starring Brad Pitt and Julian Rosefeldt‘s Manifesto with Cate Blanchett.  In December 2020, he released the concert film Tripping with Nils Frahm.  

Nils Frahm made his Barbican debut in October 2014, presenting music from his Spaces album to a sold-out Barbican Hall audience. He has since returned to play in 2016 (as part of Possibly Colliding, his curated marathon weekend of music, film and art) and across three nights in 2018 as part of his All Melody tour. The relationship between Frahm and the Barbican continues through the upcoming live performances of his worldwide tour of Music For in 2024.  

New performances on sale to Barbican Members at 10am Wed 10 Jan 
New performances on sale to public at 10am Fri 12 Jan 

Produced by the Barbican in association with Bird on the Wire 
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