Barbican Centre News

Soprano Hera Hyesang Park released new album, 'Breathe,' featuring operatic classics and contemporary works. Joined by mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo and the Orchestra Del Teatro Carlo Felice. Watch the new music video featuring Park freediving. Out now on Deutsche Grammophon.

Meshing together live artwork, puppetry and music, Stereoptik’s latest work Antechamber is a theatrical experiment that largely delivers on its intriguing premise.

Thanks to some nifty “mixed reality” technology from Tin Drum, Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto is brought back to some semblance of life in Kagami.

What a year! I pulled out my notebook over a hundred times and came away, more often not, with a happy heart. Below is a condensed list of the very best - and worst - that I saw.

2023 has been a big year for theatre. It’s easy to say that every year, but in the past twelve months we have seen a real shakeup of artistic directors, as well as a whole series of new smash hits, from revivals to new musicals to cutting-edge plays. With the pandemic era of closed buildings and Zoom plays fading into memory, theatre is well and truly back and thriving.

DACAMERA has announced the singers for the world premiere of 'Music for New Bodies' by Matthew Aucoin and Peter Sellars.

Norwich Theatre has announced Tom Sleigh, current Chair of the Barbican Centre, will be appointed as Chair of Norwich Theatre.

Last night, (Thursday 30 November), Executive Producer Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) celebrated the official opening night of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro, which returned to the Barbican centre early this month for a strictly limited run.

Recently, we had the chance to speak with Ami Okumura Jones, who returns to the role of Satsuki, Mei’s older sister. We discussed what it has been like to be part of both the original and current production of the show, how it feels to be part of an adaptation of a classic Studio Ghibli film, and even her first reaction to seeing the puppets!

Rhiannon Faith Company premieres Lay Down Your Burdens at the Barbican Centre, another “socially conscious” work to add to their ever-growing portfolio

Join Attack Theatre for the world premiere of Rowhouse, a thrilling dance and music performance featuring Grammy nominee Dave Eggar and actress/rapper/songwriter Le'Asha Julius.

The Barbican has announced its next Theatre and Dance line-up beginning on 23 January and running until 9 June 2024. Learn more about the upcoming programming here!

The first-ever operatic adaptation of Hemingway’s novel about suffering and perseverance, directed by Karmina Šileclo.

Due to overwhelming demand, the premiere of the major new British musical 'Billie the Kid' at Vaudeville Theatre has added more dates. Watch cast members sing 'Peaches' in a new video!

Ghosts of the Near Future is a show about the end of the world, about death, about Las Vegas, about pet cats, and about disappearing. It’s a show about magic acts, and it is one in itself. Performance duo emma + pj turn the Barbican’s Pit Theatre into a post-nuclear Nevada desert, a faded postcard of America. On this stage, the pair tell the story of a magician travelling to Las Vegas, before the show expands into an abstract exploration of both global apocalypse, and the everyday tragedies we experience as little apocalypses of their own. 

Gil Shaham, violin with Akira Eguchi, piano, will be performing at the 92nd Street Y in New York on November 17, 2023. The concert will feature a repertoire including Faure's A-Major Sonata and Avner Dorman's 'Nigunim.' Don't miss this must-see concert for violin music lovers.

Foley artists don’t often get moments to shine - step forward Athens based dancer and choreographer Ioanna Paraskevopoulou with her work MOS presented by Dance Umbrella.

Sandunes – composer, producer and pianist from Mumbai, India, – mesmerizes with her electronica track 'Feel Me From The Inside', the third single from her upcoming album. Don't miss this transcendental musical experience. “Feel Me From The Inside” is the third single from Sandunes aka Sanaya Ardeshi's upcoming album, 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet.'

Song of Songs premiered in 2022 and now has its London opening at the Barbican Centre. The work sees American dance maker Pam Tanowitz collaborate with Pulitzer prize-winning composer David Lang.

Learn about the winners of the 2023 Music Academy Competition and their upcoming performances. Find out who won in the Solo Piano, Duo, and Song categories, and discover the exciting premieres they will be performing in 2024.