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
ECHO Rising Stars at 30: Rakhi Singh & Friends
Rakhi Singh, violinist and co-founder of Manchester Collective, is joined by a stellar string quartet for an afternoon of contemporary chamber music.
No Friend but the Mountains
Inspired by Behrouz Boochani's book of his refugee journey and six-year-long incarceration in Manus Island, the LSO and Jonathan Lemalu give the UK premiere of this heart-stopping song-cycle.
Evgeny Kissin
Chopin at his most mercurial, and Shostakovich’s response to Bach as well as his piano sonata swansong all come under the spotlight as the great pianist attends to unfinished business.
CBSO/Abi Sampa: The Orchestral Qawwali Project
Sufi music and poetry, Indian classical dance, the airborne vocals of Abi Sampa, and artful orchestrations converge in a free-spirited project whose transformative ecstasy holds audiences spellbound.
ECHO Rising Stars: Sean Shibe
Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe takes us on a journey through guitar and lute music across the centuries from 17th century lute music to new work by Thomas Adès.
NYO: Ascent
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Hear a new generation get behind the greatest orchestral music of all time – experience an exhilarating adventure in sound with The National Youth Orchestra.
Gavin Bryars at 80
Celebrate the pioneering composer's 80th birthday, with some of Gavin Bryars’s most iconic works, performed by the Gavin Bryars Ensemble.
Natalie Dessay and Philippe Cassard: Women's Words
Soprano Natalie Dessay guides us through a gallery of unforgettable women, from composers Alma Mahler, Clara Schumann and Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn to great operatic heroines.
Anthony McGill and Michael McHale
Clarinettist Anthony McGill, Milton Court’s Artist-in-Residence, performs an exhilarating all-American programme with pianist Michael McHale.
Anthony McGill Masterclass
Anthony McGill – the New York Philharmonic’s Principal Clarinet – shares his ‘lustrous sound and dynamic range’ (Bachtrack) with budding musicians from Guildhall School in an evening masterclass.
Anthony McGill and Britten Sinfonia
Celebrated clarinettist Anthony McGill embarks on his residency at Milton Court, in an evening of conversation and performance with Britten Sinfonia.
Insula orchestra/Laurence Equilbey: Fauré's Requiem
Heaven and earth: Mat Collishaw’s mesmerising projections accompany sacred music by Fauré and Gounod, connecting these spiritual works to human experience and the natural world.
Fenella Humphreys & Leah Broad
Violinist Fenella Humphreys joins forces with author Leah Broad and pianist Nicola Eimer to explore some of the most important but neglected figures of 20th century music.
Piotr Anderszewski
From Bach to Webern, pianist Piotr Anderszewski finds fascinating connections between composers whose visionary ideas would change keyboard music forever.
Maxim Vengerov and Polina Osetinskaya
Grammy Award-winning violinist Maxim Vengerov is joined by pianist Polina Osetinskaya in some of the great violin sonatas of the Romantic era.
Beatrice Rana
In a recital that covers a kaleidoscopic range of colours and styles, Beatrice Rana makes her Barbican recital debut with some of the most demanding and dazzling music written for piano.
Mullova Ensemble: Transfigured Night
Through music, poetry and dance, Viktoria Mullova and her ensemble take us on an immersive journey into a nocturnal forest, setting the scene for Schoenberg’s profoundly moving ode to love.
ECHO Rising Stars: Axelle Fanyo and Kunal Lahiry
Hear one, choose one: Axelle Fanyo invites the audience to curate the perfect programme, from enchanting French music to American song cycles that set your imagination free.
Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Rising star Nardus Williams and period-instrument ensemble Europa Galante enter a world of Baroque brilliance in a programme of music by Vivaldi, Handel and Purcell.
Roomful of Teeth
Grammy-winning vocal group Roomful of Teeth returns with new music by composers celebrated for breaking down cultural boundaries.
Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Jurowski: Mahler 4
Hear tales of life, death and the love we share in between as the Bayerisches Staatsorchester continues its 500th anniversary celebrations with three jewels of the Romantic period.
Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Jurowski: Alpine Symphony
In the first of two concerts, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester (Bavarian State Orchestra) celebrates its 500th anniversary with music that pays homage to the orchestra’s formidable history.
Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra/Keri-Lynn Wilson
Art over adversity: the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra returns to London with a programme of music by Ukrainian composers plus one of Beethoven’s most epic symphonies.
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.
