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
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.
Quatuour Diotima: Boulez Anniversary Concert
Performed by one of its outstanding interpreters, Boulez’s uncompromising Livre pour quatuor is at the heart of a centenary tribute to the composer referencing Webern, Bach, and impassioned Debussy.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Hindoyan
A Russian in exile, an Englishman in despair, and a Puerto Rican take on fantastical fandangoes: a welcome visit from the RLPO under its charismatic Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan.
Cassie Kinoshi x Ensemble Intercontemporain
Spearheaded by France’s flagship contemporary music group, the new, the nearly new, and a 20th century classic are stitched into a programme that explores slavery and the Caribbean experience.
Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 5
Our Shostakovich cycle began with the Quartet No 1, and ends, inevitably, with No 15, staring death resolutely in the face, a work heart-stopping in its searing intensity.
ECHO Rising Stars at 30: Lukas Sternath
Join pianist Lukas Sternath for a mesmerising recital featuring an eclectic programme full of contrasts.
ECHO Rising Stars at 30: Carlos Ferreira
Jazz-inspired music meets a brand new commission plus one of the cornerstones of the clarinet repertoire, with Portuguese clarinettist Carlos Ferreira.
ECHO Rising Stars at 30: Quatuor Agate
The Quatuor Agate pairs Ligeti's Bartók-inspired Métamorphoses Nocturnes with Ravel's masterful String Quartet.
ECHO Rising Stars at 30: Sào Soulez Larivière
Embark on a journey from the Baroque to the present day with Sào Soulez Larivière, as he brings electronics on board to explore a whole new side to the viola.
ECHO Rising Stars at 30: Benjamin Kruithof
Kickstart your morning with music from some of the most influential composers of the late 19th and 20th centuries, performed by cellist Benjamin Kruithof.
ECHO Rising Stars at 30: Matilda Lloyd
British trumpeter Matilda Lloyd presents a thrilling programme of music that tells a story.
Fatma Said and Joseph Middleton
Soprano Fatma Said and pianist Joseph Middleton give a recital that contrasts songs on nocturnal theme by Mozart, Schubert and Robert Schumann with sunnier Spanish repertoire.
Kavakos Plays Bach: Part 2
Leonidas Kavakos gives the second of his two recitals devoted to the Six Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas by J S Bach, including the extraordinary Chaconne.
Kavakos Plays Bach: Part 1
In the first of two concerts, Leonidas Kavakos performs three works from J S Bach’s Six Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas, each one an intimate, intricate masterpiece.
Anthony McGill: Gran Partita
Clarinettist Anthony McGill collaborates with the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective and stars of the next generation from Guildhall School, as he closes his Milton Court residency.
Anthony McGill and Kaleidoscope Collective
Delve into the depths of the human experience with deeply personal chamber music by Brahms and Messiaen, performed by clarinettist Anthony McGill and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective.
Aidan O'Rourke, Alice Zawadzki and Héloïse Werner
Celebrated singers Alice Zawadzki and Héloïse Werner are joined by fiddle player Aidan O'Rourke, pianist Kit Downes and cellist Colin Alexander in a programme of new works by each of the artists.
Reformations: Concerto with Dunedin Consort and Sean Shibe
Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe and the Dunedin Consort, Scotland’s foremost Baroque ensemble, join forces for a feast of early and recent repertoire, including Cassandra Miller’s new concerto.
ECHO Rising Stars: Mathis Stier
With pianist Rie Akamatsu, ECHO artist Mathis Stier showcases the versatility of the bassoon in a programme that takes us from the 19th century through to the present day.
Khatia Buniatishvili
Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili brings passion and vulnerability to her performances, qualities sure to abound in a recital of Beethoven and transcriptions by her hero, Liszt.
Hera Hyesang Park and Bretton Brown
Soprano Hera Hyesang Park and pianist Bretton Brown give a recital that celebrates Park’s Korean heritage, finding parallels and contrasts between western repertoire and Korean art and folk-song.
Evgeny Kissin
Evgeny Kissin, one of the finest pianists of the age, gives a recital of formidable complexity: two great sonatas by Beethoven and Prokofiev frame music by Brahms and Chopin.
Guy Johnston and Britten Sinfonia: The Protecting Veil
Star cellist Guy Johnston joins Britten Sinfonia in a programme of powerful music by Tavener, Beethoven and Bartók.
ECHO Rising Stars: Sonoro Quartet
The Sonoro Quartet, ECHO Rising Stars for 2023/24, plays a programme of new works alongside music by Guillaume Lekeu and Shostakovich’s searing String Quartet No 8.
Dido and Aeneas
A sumptuous pairing of Baroque masterpieces featuring an all-star cast conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev, with Joyce DiDonato and Andrew Staples as the ill-fated lovers in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
Freya Waley-Cohen and Manchester Collective: Spell Book
Manchester Collective, soprano Héloïse Werner and mezzo-sopranos Fleur Barron and Katie Bray perform the world premiere of the complete Spell Book by British-American composer Freya Waley-Cohen.
African Strings with Abel Selaocoe
Abel Selaocoe presents a mesmerising fusion of musical worlds, bringing together timeless minimalism and the intricate harmonies of the Baroque era with the unique timbres of African strings.
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.
