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
![Jess Gillam](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/Jess-Gillam-credit-Robin-Clewley-Photography_1920_1080.jpg?itok=EtstfEWK)
London Symphony Orchestra/Noseda & Jess Gillam
Gianandrea Noseda conducts, and saxophone star Jess Gillam takes the spotlight as the LSO goes to the EFG London Jazz Festival.
![Ayanna Witter-Johnson with the LSO Percussion Ensemble at LSO St Luke's](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/LSO-AWJ-Yamaha-1920_1080.jpg?itok=pzJqbksD)
Ayanna Witter-Johnson / LSO Percussion Ensemble
A jazz-infused concert showcasing the partnership between the LSO Percussion Ensemble and composer-cellist-singer Ayanna Witter-Johnson, including new works for percussion.
![An image of Nathalie pointing at the camera joyfully whilst conducting in a recent concert](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-01/TOBS_SinfonischerSommer_012-1-1.jpg?h=39cc7a75&itok=FwxcQjO5)
London Symphony Orchestra/Stutzmann: Wild and Stormy Nights
Nathalie Stutzmann dives deep into the dark heart of 19th century music, with storm-swept thrillers by Beethoven, Brahms and Franck.
![André J Thomas](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/AndreJThomas-credit-Doug-Peters_1920_1080.jpg?itok=kPJH2zPF)
London Symphony Orchestra/André J Thomas: Awaken the Sleeper
LSO Associate Artist André J Thomas delivers an all-American programme of music never-before-heard in the UK, including Wynton Marsalis’ new Tuba Concerto and two rising-star composers in the US.
![Symphonic Gospel Image](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-09/SymphonicGospel_1920x1080_0.jpg?itok=5bzHQqpN)
London Symphony Orchestra/André J Thomas: Symphonic Gospel
A performance bringing together the enlivening power of gospel music and the symphonic sound of the LSO, conducted and designed by André J Thomas to mark Black History Month.
![Kevin John Edusei](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/Kevin-John-Edusei-credit-Marco-Borggreve_1920_1080.jpg?itok=kFdae-3s)
London Symphony Orchestra/Edusei: In Living Colour
Strong emotions and primary colours, as Kevin John Edusei conducts high-octane musical dramas from Stravinsky, Bartók and Canadian composer Samy Moussa.
![Alice Through the Looking-Glass](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-10/MicrosoftTeams-image%20%28102%29.png?itok=m_2L0WHt)
LSO Family Concert: Through the Looking Glass
Venture through the looking glass with the LSO for the premiere performance of Paul Rissmann’s brand-new concert suite.
![Sir Simon Rattle with London Symphony Orchestra](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/Rattle-Barbican-c.-Mark-Allan.jpg?itok=rf6-yjPa)
London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle: Sibelius & Bruckner
Sir Simon Rattle conducts music in which vast landscapes merge with the human soul: Sibelius’ tone poems and Bruckner’s radiant Seventh Symphony.
![Peter Moore](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-09/orig_62335b83a80d82.81892092%282%29.png?itok=rrPAvDw0)
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle
Sibelius, Bartók, Berlioz and Ravel – blazing colours and wild emotions, conducted with poetry and passion by Sir Simon Rattle.
![Peter Moore](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-09/petermoore2022_2_1920_1080.jpg?itok=ebr8A3vp)
London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle
LSO Music Director Sir Simon Rattle celebrates the sheer beauty of sound, in a pocket-sized concert with a French flavour.
![Sir Simon Rattle with London Symphony Orchestra](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-03/Rattle-generic-Mark-Allan_1920_1080.jpg?itok=x4UmGRKE)
London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle: New Music Britain
Sir Simon Rattle kicks off the new London Symphony Orchestra season with the best of British – from the sweeping landscapes of Elgar and Frank Bridge to the 21st-century sounds of Daniel Kidane.
![Sir John Eliot Gardiner](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220705_JEG_credit-Sim-Canetty-Clarke_1920_1080.jpg?itok=JNJLIQke)
LSO/Sir John Eliot Gardiner & Maria João Pires
Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts Symphony No 2 from the great Tchaikovsky and incidental music from Schubert’s Rosamunde. He is also joined on stage by Maria João Pires.
![Maria João Pires](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220630_MariaJoaoPires_credit-Harald-Hoffmann_1920_1080.jpg?h=5561d7b2&itok=WxsdMmvW)
London Symphony Orchestra/Gardiner & Maria João Pires
Sir John Eliot Gardiner joins pianist Maria João Pires in an exploration of Beethoven at his uninhibited best – music that sings, dances and glitters with youthful energy.
![Håkan Hardenberger](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220616_Hardenberger_c_Marco_Borggreve_1920_1080.jpg?h=dde24708&itok=-y05Nz9L)
London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle & Håkan Hardenberger
Brahms’s most lyrical symphony meets three composers who continue to redefine the power of sound, in this Artist Portrait concert featuring trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger.
![pink green and blue coloured bubbles](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2022-05/soundhub%201920_no%20text_0.jpg?itok=3TpYCtVN)
Soundhub Showcase
Four composers, four very different ideas. LSO Soundhub Associates present an exciting array of fresh works in a composer-curated evening of music, developed in collaboration with LSO musicians.
![Imogen Cooper](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220612_ImogenCooper_Credit-Sim-Canetty-Clarke_1920_1080.jpg?itok=gRCkIJq7)
London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle & Imogen Cooper
High spirits and summer sun, as Sir Simon Rattle kicks up his heels in music by Haydn, Mozart, and Gershwin – and introduces the latest showstopper from John Adams.
![Sir Antonio Pappano](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220605_Pappano_credit-Musacchio-%26-Ianniello-_1920_1080.jpg?h=b36f0301&itok=Y7CuLsfI)
London Symphony Orchestra/Pappano
Sir Antonio Pappano champions one of the unsung masterpieces of 20th-century opera – Luigi Dallapiccola’s shattering Il Prigioniero.
![Sir Antonio Pappano](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2021-10/220602_Pappano_credit-Musacchio-%26-Ianniello_1920_1080.jpg?h=fa8f6213&itok=E2RisXNI)
London Symphony Orchestra/Pappano
From Renaissance Venice to the streets of post-war Rome, Sir Antonio Pappano explores the passion, the melody and the sun-kissed colours of an Italy we almost never hear.
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.