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
![Janine Jansen](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2018-01/180919_jansen_1920_1080.jpg?h=f076139c&itok=z5ZTjs6V)
London Symphony Orchestra/Noseda: Shostakovich
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Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony and Britten’s Violin Concerto: conductor Gianandrea Noseda and violinist Janine Jansen are a powerhouse partnership in a pair of towering 20th-century masterpieces.
![Javier Perianes](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-01/Perianes-1-Credit-Josep-Molina.jpg?h=f440cd38&itok=pmyizqhm)
LSO/Chan: Ravel, Saint-Saëns & Rimsky-Korsakov
Ravel’s Boléro, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Spain, and a splash of Saint-Saëns with pianist Javier Perianes. On a January day, Elim Chan conducts a concert that’s drenched in sunshine.
![Conductor Marin Alsop](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-02/Marin%20Alsop%206%20credit%20Grant%20Leighton.jpg?h=65bc32c2&itok=0QwdzVcf)
LSO/Alsop: Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, Kurt Weill on Broadway and the award-winning Eric Lu playing Beethoven – a concert to span the many worlds of guest conductor Marin Alsop.
![Pianist Eric Lu](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-02/Eric%20Lu%202019%20%232%20%C2%A9%20Ben%20Ealovega_half.jpg?itok=5yIuofsG)
London Symphony Orchestra/Alsop: Beethoven, Barber & Tower
American music from either end of the 20th century and the award-winning Eric Lu playing Beethoven – a concert to span the many worlds of guest conductor Marin Alsop.
![Conductor Marin Alsop](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-02/Marin%20Alsop%20Baltimore%202008%20-%20%20live%202%20%28Grant%20Leighton%29_0.jpg?h=f2c1f4c7&itok=_bVfCl3Q)
Half Six Fix: Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances LSO/Alsop
Travelling at this time of day is rarely fun. So tonight, try a different route, as Marin Alsop and the LSO perform Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances – Moscow to Beverly Hills in just 45 minutes.
![Picture of John Wilson](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2017-08/John%20Wilson_081_credit%20Sim%20Canetty-Clarke.jpg?itok=9h0A3nue)
London Symphony Orchestra/Wilson: Letters from America
Gershwin, Copland, Barber and Weill: four faces of the American dream, performed with John Wilson’s inimitable energy and flair.
![Conductor John Wilson](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-02/John%20Wilson_026_credit%20Sim%20Canetty-Clarke.jpg?h=83c7ca87&itok=PnPXyGp-)
London Symphony Orchestra/Wilson: Bennett & Dutilleux
Music from three jazz-influenced composers, performed with John Wilson’s inimitable energy and flair.
![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)
London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle: Schumann, Weill & Schubert
Schubert, Kurt Weill and Mitsuko Uchida playing Schumann: Sir Simon Rattle explores two centuries of German dreams and nightmares.
![Pianist Mitsuko Uchida](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-02/210114_Uchida_1920_1080.jpg?h=f076139c&itok=NdYo_pjR)
London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle: Schumann & Schubert
Schubert's 'Great' symphony and Mitsuko Uchida playing Schumann: Sir Simon Rattle explores two works full of dreams and romance.
![Photo of Sir Simon Rattle conducting](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/170914_rattle_1920_1080.jpg?h=f076139c&itok=WV2rJix_)
LSO/Rattle: The Dream of Gerontius
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Sir Simon Rattle conducts the British masterpiece at the very centre of his musical life: Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.
LSO/Rattle: Haydn, Schubert & Unsuk Chin
From Vienna to Seoul: Sir Simon Rattle conducts, as symphonies by Haydn and Schubert – the ‘Great C Major’ – frame a major new work from the extraordinary imagination of Unsuk Chin.
![Kavakos Violin](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-02/210107_Kavakos_1920_1080.jpg?h=f076139c&itok=jRmbYji8)
London Symphony Orchestra/Rattle: Berg & Schubert
Sir Simon Rattle conducts Schubert's ‘Great C Major’ Symphony and Berg's Violin Concerto with soloist Leonidas Kavakos.
![Pianist Alice Sara Ott](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-01/ASO_%28c%29Jonas-Becker_00322.jpg?h=f076139c&itok=wqJY6RFW)
London Symphony Orchestra/Noseda: Carmina Burana
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Life, lust, and roasted swans: experience Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, in a roof-raising seasonal performance with Gianandrea Noseda and the full London Symphony Chorus.
![Pianist Krystian Zimerman](/sites/default/files/styles/event_listing_small/public/images/2020-02/201217_Zimerman_1920_1080.jpg?h=3607c7c2&itok=g4_bWElB)
LSO/Rattle: Beethoven Piano Concerto Marathon
Zimerman, Rattle and Beethoven: three great names, and five superb piano concertos, in one remarkable concert. The unquestioned highlight of this year of Beethoven celebrations.
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.