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 (subject to availability). Find out more.
Events
Evening in the Palace of Reason: The Musical Offering
May 1747: Frederick the Great, philosopher-king of Prussia, meets composer Johann Sebastian Bach – and challenges him to an unwinnable musical duel. Bach’s Musical Offering is the astonishing result.
Gautier Capuçon and Yuja Wang
Chamber music is one of the most intimate experiences that art has to offer – and here two of its finest exponents perform some of the most passionate music ever written for cello and piano.
BBC Symphony Orchestra: David Lang’s prisoner of the state
Follow one woman’s personal struggle against political oppression in this dark, seething and engrossing new minimalist opera from the co-founder of pioneering new music collective Bang on a Can.
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra: Handel’s Messiah
One of the most distinguished ensembles in Baroque music give our annual Christmas performance of Handel’s joyous and uplifting oratorio.
Angela Gheorghiu in recital with Alexandra Dariescu
Twin stars, and enduring melodies: Angela Gheorghiu joins forces with the Romanian piano virtuoso Alexandra Dariescu for a recital that spans three centuries of melody and romance.
40 Years of Les Arts Florissants: A Baroque Odyssey
Born out of a belief that Baroque music should make its audiences want to laugh, cry and dance, Les Arts Florissants celebrate their 40th birthday, powered by an unquenchably Gallic joie-de-vivre.
Budapest Festival Orchestra and Sir András Schiff
Sir András Schiff, Iván Fischer and the peerless Budapest Festival Orchestra continue their anniversary salute to the music of Beethoven with his mighty Emperor Concerto.
Budapest Festival Orchestra and Sir András Schiff
In the first of four concerts celebrating Beethoven’s Piano Concertos, Sir András Schiff joins the BFO and Iván Fischer in the enigmatic, poetic Fourth – a true meeting of musical minds.
Pretty Yende in recital with Michele d’Elia
In her first solo recital at the Barbican, Pretty Yende explores both German romantic song and the sunlit world of Italian bel canto.
Tafelmusik: Love and Betrayal
One of the world’s foremost Baroque ensembles remind us that this music is – consummately – about emotion, with a programme of Handel and Vivaldi aimed straight at the heart.
Andreas Ottensamer and Yuja Wang in recital
Yuja Wang is one of the most compelling musical personalities of our time. Alongside clarinet royalty Andreas Ottensamer – principal clarinettist of the Berlin Phil – the results will raise the roof.
LA Phil/Dudamel: Bruckner Symphony No 4
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic finish their Barbican residency with two epic visions of nature.
Herbie Hancock with LA Phil/Dudamel
The USA’s most talked-about conductor and orchestra meet a giant of jazz.
LA Phil/Dudamel: The Rite of Spring
Dudamel, Yuja Wang, the Rite of Spring and a John Adams premiere – a concert that positively shouts energy, colour and joy.
Tamara Stefanovich: The Art of the Étude
Pianist Tamara Stefanovich takes us on a musical journey through the Étude: three centuries of musical questions and open-ended answers.
Insula Orchestra: Weber’s Der Freischütz
Conjuring magical bullets and demonic hordes in the dark heart of the German forest, Weber’s sinister operatic fairy tale is told through some of the 19th century’s most gloriously gothic music.
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.
The Philip Glass Ensemble
A rare opportunity to see the Philip Glass Ensemble, as they perform one of the composer’s early masterpieces for the first time in over 48 years in the UK.
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.
