Laura Bowler is a composer of rare imagination and theatrical flair. Her new work for voice and orchestra is inspired by Booker and Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang’s The White Book – a poetic meditation on colour, grief and the human spirit.

EPSG:4326

London Symphony Orchestra/Barbara Hannigan

Barbican Centre

Composer Laura Bowler’s new work for voice and orchestra is based on Booker and Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang’s The White Book – a poetic meditation on colour, grief and the human spirit. A performer and vocalist herself, Bowler’s settings are sure to make the most of soloist Barbara Hannigan’s theatrical stage presence and their shared flair for the dramatic.

London Symphony Orchestra: Half Six Fix – Laura Bowler

In this unique world premiere, we hear Laura Bowler’s composition inspired by The White Book by Nobel Prize-winner Han Kang. The work was commissioned by Principal Guest Conductor Barbara Hannigan, who also sings at this performance. With the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and choir.

The White Book

Göteborgs Symfoniker

Canadian Barbara Hannigan is an absolute world star! A unique figure who generously demonstrates her multi-talent as both conductor and singer in one and the same concert. This evening is no exception, when Richard Strauss' music-philosophical masterpiece of Zarathustra, a major work by Ligeti and a world premiere of Laura Bowler are on the program.

Hannigan and Zarathustra

The Conservatory Concert Hall

In 'Minding the hive', Christopher Fox explores the remarkable tonal resources of Lore Amenabar Larrañaga’s self-designed quartertone accordion. These sounds become a focal point for the orchestra’s music, as different groupings of instruments create swarms of sonic activity around her. The music takes inspiration from the ways bees communicate, interrelate, work, and even “dance” to convey the precise location of food and water.

Laura Bowler, a “triple-threat composer-performer-provocatrice” (The Arts Desk), offers a humorous yet incisive reflection on the pressures of everyday life, inspired by Lucy Ellmann’s essay ‘Things Are Against Us’. “The work is propulsive, unrelenting, and overwhelming for the soloists as they battle through the eventually overpowering surrounds,” Bowler explains. In this setting of Ellmann’s text, the GBSR Duo embodies the “things,” while the orchestra (representing the global) extends and amplifies these forces. Bowler herself stands for “us”: the human experience, caught in the midst of a turbulent rollercoaster ride.

In Star Washers, Angélica Castelló contemplates stars in all their manifestations, “from the ones we find, one afternoon, crushed on the street, to the ones in the sky… It’s also about stars in my life: stars who inspire and accompany my creative path,” she explains. Castelló blends orchestra, electronics and the recorded voice of the supremely gifted Barbara Hannigan, which emerges as a mysterious appearance… like a voice from outer space.

Laura Bowler

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 11, 2026

Hannigan and Zarathustra · Copenhagen Phil

May 2, 2026

TECTONICS: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra 1 · BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Past events

Mar 5, 2026

London Symphony Orchestra/Barbara Hannigan · Barbican Centre

Mar 4, 2026

London Symphony Orchestra: Half Six Fix – Laura Bowler · Barbican Centre

About

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