Artelize - Music Meets Mastery: A Dive into Barbican Centre's Vibrant 2025 Concert Series
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Music Meets Mastery: A Dive into Barbican Centre's Vibrant 2025 Concert Series

The Barbican Centre in London is set to host an eclectic mix of musical performances in 2025, featuring a range of orchestral and jazz events that promise to captivate audiences. From the educational and family-friendly LSO Family Concerts, to the magnetic performances by the renowned Martha Argerich and the jazz stylings of Maria Schneider, there is something for everyone. These events not only showcase incredible talent but also offer audiences a chance to delve deeper into the musical world. Join us as we explore the highlights of this year's lineup.

Feb 24, 2025
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1. London Symphony Orchestra: Family Concert
LSO Family Concerts are a fun, informative way for families to experience live music together and learn more about the instruments of the orchestra. Each concert is based on a theme, with free workshops before the performance, and the opportunity for everyone to get involved by playing or singing along with the audience participation piece during the concert.
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Dec 1, 2024 - Jun 21, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Barbican Centre

2. Martha Argerich with the Oxford Philharmonic
Following sensational concerts in Oxford and Germany last season, Martha Argerich returns to perform with the Oxford Philharmonic with concerts in both Oxford and London.
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Feb 24, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Barbican Centre

3. Brit Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Brit Floyd returns to the stage with their biggest and most spectacular production to date, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s classic album Wish You Were Here.
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Feb 25, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Barbican Centre

4. Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 2
Mahler meets Prokofiev in the Quartet No 6, which Shostakovich started to sketch on honeymoon following his marriage to second wife Margarita Kainova. The 12th, composed after a spell of bad health signalled a decisive return of confidence, (‘it’s a symphony, a symphony’ he enthused). It’s inscribed to his devoted friend Dmitri Tsyganov, first violinist of the Beethoven Quartet. The Carduccis end with No 3, one of Shostakovich's finest works and the only one he wrote in 1946, when the Soviet state began a campaign of censorship.
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Feb 28, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Milton Court Concert Hall

5. Maria Schneider and Oslo Jazz Ensemble
Following a successful long term artistic relationship, the GRAMMY Award-winning bandleader and composer is joined by the 19-piece ensemble to bring the music of her remarkable, intense album Data Lords to life. Hailed as an evocative and daring voice in the musical world, Maria Schneider's work blurs the lines between genres and has seen her collaborate with Jazz at Lincoln Centre, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and David Bowie.
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Mar 2, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Barbican Centre

6. London Symphony Orchestra/Barbara Hannigan
Roussel’s Le festin de L’araignée weaves a delicate web of sound around a brutal tale of insect carnage. Ravel creates a magical language for an eccentric group of beasts in Histoires naturelles, including a narcissistic peacock and an anxious cricket.
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Mar 13, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Barbican Centre

7. Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra, LSO & Sir Antonio Pappano
Wynton Marsalis’ Symphony No 4, The Jungle, is a wild and brilliant portrait of New York City in all its dazzling, high-pressure, cosmopolitan glory. Featuring glimpses of ragtime and elements of popular dance music, its six movements combine rapid and hard-swinging fast passages with poignant blues-tinged melodies and colourful, plushly orchestrated jazz chords. The ‘La Esquina’ movement pays homage the city’s Afro-Latin culture while the work’s finale sees wailing brass spin bold melodies over rhythmic riffs. Like the (second) greatest city in the world, this intoxicating cacophony of sounds, cultures and identities will leave you thinking.
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Mar 15, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Barbican Centre

8. London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano
A Child of our Time was Tippett’s response to Kristallnacht, a Nazi pogrom against German Jews. In a unique, utterly touching musical language his oratorio explores the darkness of the world and of individuals. A powerful collective spirit is forged in the famous spirituals.
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Mar 23, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Barbican Centre

9. Berliner Barock Solisten/Kapelis – Bach: Complete Keyboard Concertos
The Berliner Barock Solisten and pianist Alexandros Kapelis come together for Bach’s six concertos for solo keyboard and orchestra: a tour-de-force not seen on the concert stage in recent memory.
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Mar 25, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Barbican Centre

10. Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 3
Shostakovich was on a chamber music roll when he composed the Quartet No 2 – its Romance tipping the wink to Tchaikovsky and Borodin. Tragedy intrudes on the 11th Quartet which mourns the much-loved Vasily Shirinsky, second violinist of the Beethoven Quartet. And standing at the gateway to Shostakovich’s late style, it’s paired with the lyrical No 14, which breathes the vivacious warmth of its dedicatee, cellist Sergei Shirinsky, and sports a heart-on-sleeve duet Shostakovich called his ‘Italian bit’. The Kyans complete the programme with Gubaidulina’s work about the nature of sound itself.
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Mar 27, 2025
Barbican Centre

London · Milton Court Concert Hall

Conclusion
The Barbican Centre's 2025 lineup is an invitation to experience music in its most profound form. Whether through the educational and engaging LSO Family Concerts, the jaw-dropping virtuosity of Martha Argerich, or the boundary-pushing jazz of Maria Schneider, each event promises to enrich and inspire. This year's concert series is a testament to the universal language of music and its ability to connect, educate, and entertain. So, take a leap into the world of sound in 2025, and let the performances at the Barbican Centre immerse you in the beauty and complexity of musical expression.
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