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Laurie Anderson: Let X = X

Composer, writer, director, visual artist, and vocalist Laurie Anderson takes to the Barbican Hall stage to perform material old and new, from her debut album Big Science to her latest recordings with the New York City Band SexMob.

Two-time GRAMMY award winner, Anderson has created ground-breaking works that span art, theatre, experimental music, and technology. Her recording career, launched by Big Science in 1981, includes the soundtrack to her feature film Home of the Brave, and her 2001 album Life on a String. Anderson’s live shows range from simple spoken word to elaborate multi-media stage performances. In 2002, Anderson was appointed the first artist-in-residence of NASA, culminating in her 2004 touring solo performance The End of the Moon. In 2010, a retrospective of her visuals and installation work opened in São Paulo, Brazil. Her largest exhibition to date has been shows at The Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum of Modern Art in 2022.

For this special show at the Barbican, Anderson will be joined by Steven Bernstein (trumpet), Briggan Krauss (saxophone), Tony Scherr (bass), Kenny Wollesen (drums) and Doug Weiselman (clarinet).

Produced by the Barbican

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Lila Downs

GRAMMY award winning artist Lila Downs brings a typically charismatic performance to the Barbican in July 2023.

One of the most influential artists in Latin America, Downs weaves genres and rhythms together from Mexican rancheras and corridos, to jazz standards, hip-hop, cumbia, and North American Folk. With music often focusing on social justice, giving a voice to migrants, indigenous people and women, London audiences can expect a performance from a musician whose activism is as powerful as their artistry.

Singing in Spanish and English as well as Native American languages Zapotec, Mixtec, Nahuatl, Maya and Purépecha, Downs has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra as well as with Barbican International Associate Ensemble – Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra.

Produced by the Barbican in association with Como No!

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