London Symphony Orchestra
Resident Orchestra
![Official photo of the London Symphony Orchestra](/sites/default/files/styles/hero_constrained_small/public/images/2024-01/LSO-Orchestra-Photo-2022-C-John-Davis-%28web2%29.jpg?itok=8Do7p4Q5)
The London Symphony Orchestra is built on the belief that extraordinary music should be available to everyone, everywhere. It was established in 1904 and today is among the world’s top orchestras
As Resident Orchestra at the Barbican since the Centre opened, it performs some 50 concerts here every year, under the batons of a family of conductors that includes Chief Conductor Designate Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor Emeritus Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth, Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas and Associate Artists Barbara Hannigan and André J Thomas.
Events
![Photo of Sir Simon Rattle conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in the Barbican Hall](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2017-10/pa_lso_10.jpg?h=73c17cfe&itok=aWWWqRrM)
Half Six Fix: Concerto for Orchestra LSO/Rattle
Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is introduced and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle in this early-evening Half Six Fix concert.
![Viola soloist Antoine Tamestit](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2019-02/200605_Tamestit.jpg?itok=t9Ub4JtO)
London Symphony Orchestra/Daniel Harding: Widmann & Bruckner
Antoine Tamestit – a soloist with a mission to make listeners fall in love with the viola – opens his LSO Artist Portrait, which runs throughout the season and showcases his musical inspirations.
![Photo of Gianandrea Noseda in black suit](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/180408_noseda_1920_1080_RGB.jpg?h=e9bd4829&itok=ETPSS3eK)
London Symphony Orchestra/Gianandrea Noseda: St John Passion
Gianandrea Noseda leads a Palm Sunday performance of James MacMillan’s dramatic, large-scale telling of the St John Gospel, acclaimed as ‘a landmark for contemporary music’.
![Nicolai Szeps-Znaider](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-02/191012_Znaider.jpg?itok=TKdcKeXE)
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Mark Elder: Elgar and Sibelius
Sir Mark Elder presents two 20th-century masterpieces by Elgar and Sibelius, including a work that with a deep connection to both orchestra and soloist – Elgar’s Violin Concerto.
![Photo of musician Roth](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/180121_roth_1920_1080_0.jpg?itok=ytO0xzkl)
London Symphony Orchestra/François-Xavier Roth: Dukas
There must be millions for whom their first experience of classical music was Disney’s Fantasia, underscored by Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. But you might struggle to name another work by him.
![Birdseye view of concert at LSO St Luke's](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2024-01/FLTC-Header.jpg?itok=IhdIIN4X)
LSO Discovery Free Friday Lunchtime Concert
Want to know more about classical music but not sure where to start? Make the most of your lunchbreak and enjoy a free, 45-minute informal concert at LSO St Luke’s.
![Photo of musician Roth](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/180121_roth_1920_1080_0.jpg?itok=ytO0xzkl)
London Symphony Orchestra/François-Xavier Roth: Bartók
‘Bartók has always fascinated me,’ says François-Xavier Roth, who presents two of the composer’s folk-infused works in this concert. ‘It’s interesting to see how he created modernism in his time.’
![Photo of musician Roth](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/180121_roth_1920_1080_0.jpg?itok=ytO0xzkl)
Half Six Fix: Bartók LSO/Roth
In this early-evening concert, introduced on-stage by the conductor, François-Xavier Roth pairs two works that show Bartók’s love of folk music and the stories of the composer’s forefathers.
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano: British Roots
Sir Antonio Pappano presents music by Vaughan Williams and Britten, influenced by both the composers of the past and the realities of life in the first half of the 20th century.
![Susanna Mälkki conductor](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2019-02/200312_Malkki_1920_1080.jpg?itok=5NkzSrvH)
London Symphony Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki: La Mer
Susanna Mälkki brings together a musical kaleidoscope of folklore, light and the ocean.
![Karina Canellakis](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2019-02/200308_Canellakis_1920_1080.jpg?itok=AlkEXlk3)
London Symphony Orchestra/Karina Canellakis: Ravel & Strauss
Karina Canellakis takes us though a feast of Ravel and Strauss in her debut concert with the LSO, exploring themes of life, the soul and mortality.
![André J Thomas](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2019-02/andre-j-thomas.png?h=f440cd38&itok=noWVDmRf)
London Symphony Orchestra: Symphonic Gospel Spirit
André J Thomas conducts music for symphony orchestra and gospel choirs, including arrangements of spirituals and standards with a twist.
![Elim Chan conducts](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2019-02/200227_Chan_1920_1080.jpg?itok=1FZO5rov)
London Symphony Orchestra/Elim Chan: Daphnis and Chloe
As spring approaches, Elim Chan leads us from the cold winter’s nights into the splendour of sunlight, in this concert of music spanning the 20th century to the present day.
![Photo of Sir Simon Rattle conducting](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/170914_rattle_1920_1080.jpg?h=f076139c&itok=WV2rJix_)
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle: Beethoven
Soprano Iwona Sobotka takes centre-stage for a powerful account of Berg’s Lulu Suite in a programme also featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Discover
![London Symphony Orchestra](/sites/default/files/styles/discover_small/public/images/2018-08/lso_notext.jpg?itok=bHlYecEZ)
Profile: London Symphony Orchestra
Listen to our selection of LSO recordings from across the years in our Spotify playlist.
![Peter Moore playing trombone](/sites/default/files/styles/discover_small/public/images/2018-07/Screen%20Shot%202018-07-26%20at%2009.39.17.png?itok=w-j2WzF0)
Barbican Sessions: Peter Moore
London Symphony Orchestra’s young trombonist, Peter Moore, performs 'Doolallynastics – a brief torture for solo trombone’ by Brian Lynn in our latest Barbican Session, filmed in one of our Frobisher Auditoriums.