London’s Barbican extends closure to 30 June 2020

The Barbican has today announced that all events due to be held at the London venue will be postponed or cancelled until 30 June 2020.

Managing director Nicholas Kenyon said: ’Cancelling and postponing events at this scale really isn’t in our nature. However, having reviewed the current Government advice and looking at how long social distancing measures are likely to be in place, we feel we’re very unlikely to be open until at least the end of June. We therefore felt the best approach was to inform audiences, as well as the artists and organisations we work with, as soon as we could. We’ll continue to keep reviewing the closure date over the coming weeks.

’To close our building was a poignant moment for us all. We’ll be back as soon as we can and are already looking forward to the moment we can reopen our doors. Until then, we’re continuing to focus on our digital offer, as we look to bring the best of the Barbican to audiences online.’

Read: How are string soloists coping with the coronavirus lock down?
Read: Where can musicians find support at this time?

All tickets bought for Barbican performances during this period are eligible for a full refund, with initial priority give to those who have booked for events up to 1 May. For more information visit the Barbican website. 

The organisation is also asking its audiences for donations to support the venue itself and the artists with whom it is associated, including the Academy of Ancient Music, Britten Sinfonia, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). 

Last month the LSO released details of ‘Always Playing’, a digital programme of archive concerts to be streamed free via its YouTube channel throughout March and April 2020. Conducted by Simon Rattle, Gianandrea Noseda, François-Xavier Roth, Semyon Bychkov, John Eliot Gardiner and Valery Gergiev, the performances feature solists including violinists Janine Jansen and Isabelle Faust.