Britten Sinfonia
Associate Ensemble
Famed for its dazzling musicianship and thrilling programmes, Britten Sinfonia is unique in not having a principal conductor or director, choosing instead to focus on its virtuoso musicians.
The resulting collaborations with the finest guest artists from across the musical spectrum lead to performances of rare insight, commitment and energy.
Events
Britten Sinfonia: City Life
Associate Ensemble Britten Sinfonia pay a unique tribute to the Barbican on its 40th birthday with a commentary on 21st-century urban life with music by Steve Reich, Brett Dean and Dobrinka Tabakova.
Britten Sinfonia: Handel's Messiah
Handel’s glorious Messiah holds a special place in many people’s hearts over the Christmas period, but perhaps it will be even more significant in 2021.
Britten Sinfonia/Alison Balsom: An American Rhapsody
Britten Sinfonia join forces with star trumpeter Alison Balsom in a concert harnessing the power and legacy of Miles Davis and the enduring musical influence of the Jazz Age.
Britten Sinfonia/Sebastião Salgado: Amazônia in concert
A special event blending music and photography, celebrating Sebastião Salgado’s striking black and white images capturing the beauty and fragility of one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems.
Thomas Adès at 50: Live from the Barbican
Join us in celebrating one of Britain’s most original musical voices. Thomas Adès plays composer, conductor and pianist in his 50th birthday concert with the versatile Britten Sinfonia.
Britten Sinfonia with Alison Balsom
Superstar Alison Balsom performs a virtuosic programme of music from Purcell to Birtwistle via Scarlatti, celebrating the remarkable voice of the trumpet.
Britten Sinfonia: St Matthew Passion
One of Bach’s greatest works: urgent, committed and impassioned, with a stellar cast led by Nicholas Mulroy.
Britten Sinfonia: Curlew River
Inspired by Japanese Noh theatre, Benjamin Britten's church parable is a truly striking work. Ian Bostridge heads a starry cast alongside Britten Sinfonia Voices and musicians.
Britten Sinfonia with Benjamin Grosvenor
Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and Britten Sinfonia Leader Thomas Gould join forces for a vividly contrasting programme of chamber music from Bach to the 21st century.
Ada Lovelace: Imagining the Analytical Engine
A musical tribute to a woman who united the worlds of 19th-century romanticism and cutting-edge science – Ada Lovelace: thinker, computer pioneer and enchantress of numbers.
Steve Reich/Gerhard Richter
Steve Reich and Gerhard Richter – two giants of contemporary culture – come together in a major new collaboration: a cinematic exploration of Richter’s intense, abstract painting 946-3.
The Sixteen: Le grand Inconnu
Few living composers communicate with the emotional directness of James MacMillan, and the opportunity to hear two substantial new works in one concert is genuinely rare.
Britten Sinfonia: Refugee
What does it mean to be a refugee, now and through the ages? Turnage’s new song cycle sets texts by poets including Benjamin Zephaniah and Emily Dickinson, performed by peerless tenor Allan Clayton.
Britten Sinfonia & Ian Bostridge
Ian Bostridge and Britten Sinfonia embark on a journey around Europe with folk-inspired chamber music from Bartók to Britten, including a new work by Sir James MacMillan.
Britten Sinfonia/Elder
Sir Mark Elder’s electrifying series re-imagining of Brahms symphonies with Britten Sinfonia’s chamber music approach and forces take on his radiant Third Symphony.
Adès: The Tempest
Thomas Adès’s 2004 opera recreates Shakespeare’s enchanted isle on his own, utterly magical terms in what the New York Times called ‘one of the most inspired, audacious and personal operas in years.’
Britten Sinfonia: Eight Seasons
A dazzling evening of Baroque music that grooves and Argentinian tangos flushed with 18th-century flair: Vivaldi’s radiant Four Seasons interspersed with Piazzolla’s sultry Argentinian response.
