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Acclaimed folk singer and songwriter Lisa O’Neill returns to the Barbican to present her orchestral debut with Britten Sinfonia in Symphony for the Cold Moon. The concert is one of two special shows in Dublin and London and will be O’Neill’s only London performance in 2024.

Following a sold-out performance at the Barbican in 2023, O’Neill presents Symphony for the Cold Moon - one of her two ‘Symphony for the Moons’ shows with orchestras this winter. The concert at the Barbican on 11 December will take place almost one lunar month after a performance in Dublin’s National Concert Hall. In both performances, O’Neill will present new orchestrations of songs from her studio albums. 

The Barbican concert marks the beginning of the end of the year, taking place in the lunar phase known as ‘The Cold Moon’, or the ‘Long Night Moon’ - the last full moon of the year, symbolic of a death and rebirth cycle. The earlier Dublin performance takes place on 16 November, also a full moon and a date the Celts called ‘The Reed Moon’, conjuring the mournful music made by wind instruments, comparing it to the ghoulish sounds of spirits being drawn into the underworld.

In her very special Barbican show, O’Neill will perform new orchestrations by Terry Edwards (known for collaborations with the likes of PJ Harvey and Madness) of songs from across her career. The orchestrations are commissioned by Dublin's National Concert Hall and performed here by Britten Sinfonia. Her set will include work from her highly acclaimed album All Of This Is Chance (Rough Trade, 2023) as well as other treasures from across her creative arsenal.

For more information about Symphony for the Cold Moon, click here to read a short essay by Lisa O’Neill.

Commissioned by the National Concert Hall, Dublin
Presented by the Barbican

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