Barbican Presents
Barbican Presents brings some of the greatest international classical artists, orchestras and ensembles to London, in a stimulating and eclectic mix of classical, contemporary, and Baroque music.
Barbican Members enjoy 20% off tickets and pay no booking fees across the Barbican Presents season. Find out more.
Events
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 2
Sofia Gubaidulina contemplates unfinished J S Bach as the Carduccis survey Shostakovich in triplicate across some two decades.
Bog Cantata with the Dunedin Consort
Beguiling baroque expressions of loss and longing accompany an intriguing world premiere that originates from a medieval book of psalms found by chance in a peat bog in Ireland in 2006.
Czech Philharmonic/Semyon Bychkov: Shostakovich 5
An orchestra blazing burnished colours, rich string tone, and boundless refinement, the Czech Philharmonic launches a two-day residency with a concert of Shostakovich.
Czech Philharmonic/Semyon Bychkov: Mahler 5
The second concert in the Czech Philharmonic’s residency boasts Mozart's vivacious concerto written for (and tonight performed by) two siblings alongside Mahler's Symphony No 5.
Ibn Battuta: The Traveller of Time with Jordi Savall
Journey into the unknown with musical pioneer Jordi Savall, his Hespèrion XXI ensemble and guests, in a concert inspired by the 14th-century Islamic scholar Ibn Battuta.
Australian Chamber Orchestra
'Is there a better chamber orchestra in the world?' (The Guardian). Australian's premiere ensemble performs works by JS Bach, Sofia Gubaidalina and Shostakovich.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 3
The multinational young Kyan Quartet joins the Carduccis as Gubaidulina’s compact Quartet No 2 is stitched into a Shostakovich sequence including the penultimate quartet, with its focus on the cello.
Khatia and Gvantsa Buniatishvili
Our current Artist Spotlight, Khatia Buniatishvili, joins forces with her sister Gvantsa for an exhilarating evening of piano duo music from Mozart to Gershwin via Ravel.
Moving Eastman
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Experience a new dance and sonic performance that takes inspiration from the intersectional life of the Black American composer Julius Eastman.
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Sunwook Kim
Pianist Sunwook Kim multi-tasks with the high octane Chamber Orchestra of Europe in a concert featuring a Beethoven double.
Britten's Canticles
Three outstanding young singers unite in a programme of love, loss, and remembrance, where Schubert and Errollyn Wallen are entwined in Britten’s five haunting canticles.
Lang Lang
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One of the most influential pianists of the 21st century plays music by Fauré, Schumann and Chopin.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 4
Three quartets unite to perform the Chamber Symphony enlargement of Shostakovich’s 8th quartet, crowning a programme including Firsova’s ardent, deftly-plotted Quartet No 4.
Seong-Jin Cho: A Ravel-athon
A sold-out hall greeted Seong-Jin Cho’s Barbican debut in 2023. His much-anticipated return navigates a scintillating all-Ravel programme, saluting the composer in his 150th anniversary year.
Mahan Esfahani
Splicing classic Baroque works with a reminder that the harpsichord is no mere museum piece, Mahan Esfahani has opened up inspiring new territories.
Handel: Jephtha with Il Pomo D’oro and Joyce DiDonato
Joyce DiDonato and Michael Spyres star in Handel’s Jephtha – the composer's valedictory oratorio.
Her Ensemble: The Three Dancers
Three beautifully-conceived 21st century works inspired by the visual arts, culminating in a celebration of Balkan folk tunes herald the return of Ellie Consta’s pioneering Her Ensemble.
The English Concert/Bicket: Giulio Cesare
A runaway hit at its 1724 premiere, Louise Alder stars in Giulio Cesare - arguably Handel’s most popular operatic creation – a drama teeming with passion and political skulduggery.
Women of the Windrush
Abigail Kelly stars in Shirley J. Thompson’s one-woman, one-act opera which weaves together filmic documentary and song in a heart-warming love letter to the resilience of the Windrush settlers.
Commemorating Shostakovich: Evgeny Kissin and friends
A glittering constellation of performers join Evgeny Kissin for an immersive dive into three works that together span Shostakovich’s creative evolution – the last a soul-searing farewell.
ROBESON with Davóne Tines and The Truth
Davóne Tines and The Truth’s new work ROBESON explores the musical repertoire of Paul Robeson alongside pianist John Bitoy and sound artist Khari Lucas.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 1
Marking 50 years since the composer’s death, the Carduccis inaugurate a five-concert odyssey through the complete string quartets – works that enshrine his inner life, loves and closest friendships.
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra/Dudamel: Odisea
For the 2nd concert of their Barbican stopover, Gustavo Dudamel and his orchestra are remembering home as the vibrant Latino vibes of Riccardo Lorenz and Gonzalo Grau encounter fate-full Tchaikovsky.
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra/Dudamel: Mahler 3
Gustavo Dudamel returns to the hall at the head of his ‘other’ orchestra: the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. There’s just one work, but Mahler’s mighty Symphony No 3 is a stand-alone masterpiece.
NYO: Illuminate
Join us as The National Youth Orchestra shines a light on the brilliance, passion and musical potential of a new generation.
SANSARA Choir with United Strings of Europe
SANSARA and United Strings of Europe join forces to explore the themes of sanctuary and solidarity in a programme built around Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands.
Khatia Buniatishvili and Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Following last year’s solo recital, accompanied by the perennially stylish Academy of St Martin in the Fields, pianist Khatia Bhuniatishvili returns for Mozart's Piano Concerto No 23.
Christmas with Connaught Brass
For its Barbican debut, multi-prize-winning Connaught Brass despatches season’s greetings in a cracker of a programme that gift wraps festive joy with interludes of serene reflection.
Stephen Hough in Recital
Appearing as both pianist and composer, Stephen Hough wraps fiery Schumann and Chopin around the London premiere of his own sonatina.
Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw
Powerhouse percussion ensemble Sō Percussion and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and singer Caroline Shaw return to perform music from their upcoming album, Rectangles and Circumstance.
Her Stories with Samantha Ege
‘Bold, brilliant, and daring women’ nourish Samantha Ege’s recital of 20th and 21st century piano music, including a work by Havanan ‘fusionista’ Camila Cortina Bello.
Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique
Conducted by Rafael Payare, the Montréal orchestra launches a European tour. Preceding Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, Javier Perianes is the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1.
Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma reunites with long-time duo partner Kathryn Stott in two masterly sonatas and sublimely unruffled Arvo Pärt.
Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly
A smash-hit Broadway play turned movie, David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly metamorphoses into music theatre as the UK premiere of Huang Ruo’s operatic reworking takes wing.
Dudok Quartet: Abandoned Voices
Alongside something hot off the press, death, despair, and eternity stalk the Dudoks’ typically ear-opening programme in which Messiaen tempers the anguished ardour of Gesualdo and Schubert.
Sinfonia of London/John Wilson with Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Embedding the intricacies of the patter song, Kenneth Hesketh’s orchestral show-stopper prefaces two compelling master works as John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London return.
The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa
Interweaving singing, dance, and cutting-edge theatre, Gorges Ocloo’s ground-breaking AfrOpera re-examines Nana Yaa Asantewaa’s defiant stance against colonialism and cultural appropriation.
Spinifex Gum
An all-indigenous female youth choir with dance, visuals, plus a visceral song cycle about ancestry and stewardship. The result? The dazzling phenomenon that is Spinifex Gum.
Discover
Barbican Sessions: Isata Kenneh-Mason
Isata Kanneh-Mason plays Brahms's Op 118, No 3 'Ballade' in our Fountain Room
Listen: Classical Music on Spotify
Follow our regularly updated Classical Music playlist for a sample of the music you'll hear across our programme.
Barbican Sessions: Satu Vänskä
In an empty Theatre, Satu Vänskä, Principal Violinist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, performs JS Bach's ‘Allemande’ from Partita II in D minor.
Listen: Contemporary Classical on Spotify
Discover music from across the Contemporary Classical spectrum – from Judith Weir and George Benjamin to Nils Frahm and Max Richter.
Barbican Sessions: Jess Gillam
In an empty Level G foyer, Jess Gillam performs her ECHO Rising Stars commission: Edmund Finnis's A Spiral Ascending, Kurt Weill's Je ne t'aime pas and Astor Piazzolla's 'Nightclub 1960' from Histoire du Tango with Leif Kaner-Lidström and Sam Becker.
