Matthew Barley: Light Stories
The cellist harnesses the power of music to console, comfort and uplift in a specially commissioned concert experience, with visuals from Yeast Culture.
Light Stories is tales from Matthew Barley’s life, told through music and projected imagery, narrating his search for meaning in music-making and how, in time, he came to heal past wounds.
The performance incorporates pieces by Joby Talbot, Anna Meredith, John Metcalfe and Bach with new works by Barley, connected by moments of improvisations and electronics.
Barley took a template of a ‘voyage and return’ story and mapped events in his life onto it, selecting or composing music to match the stages of the story.
Light Stories is a passionate celebration of the redemptive power of music, bringing Barley’s teenage story of trauma and recovery into the light for the first time, integrating the twin senses of seeing and hearing, music and memory, sight and sound.
Innovative video designers Yeast Culture create projected images as a vivid counterpoint to the music, evoking the darkness of trauma and its transformation into clarity and understanding.
Light Stories was produced with the support of the Nicholas Berwin Charitable Trust and the Southbank Centre, and first performed at the Southbank Centre.
Performers
Matthew Barley cello
Repertoire
Matthew Barley: The Spell; ZenYen; Cathedrals and Caves
Bach: Prelude from Suite No.6 in D for solo cello, BWV.1012
Anna Meredith: moonmoons
Giovanni Sollima: Hell 1 from Songs from the Divine Comedy
Jan Bang: Implanted Memories
Anna Meredith: Blackfriars
Matthew Barley: Unfolding
Joby Talbot: Motion Detector
Matthew Barley: Caught in the Crosshairs; Timefolding
John Metcalfe: Constant filter
Matthew Barley: Vanishing Membranes, The Unwaiting Sky
Need to know
Times & tickets
Dates, times and prices
Dates & times
28 Sep 2024
Run time
1 hour (approx)
All timings are approximate and subject to change
Standard entry
from £25.00*
* Excludes £3.50 booking fee.
Book as early as you can to ensure the best choice of tickets. Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.
Multi-buy discount
Classical Music: Autumn/Winter 2024/25
As part of our classical music multi-buy offer, book multiple Autumn/Winter 2024/25 concerts in the same transaction to receive a discount:
3 – 4 events: 10% discount
5 – 7 events: 15% discount
8 – 10 events: 20% discount
11 – 14 events: 25% discount
15+ events: 30% discount
Discounts apply to selected events, September 2024 – January 2025 inclusive. Offer can’t be combined with the Spring/Summer 2024 multi-buy.
View all events in this multi-buy offerJoin our membership
Members get free entry to the Hayward Gallery and the first chance to book our entire programme of events, including go-down-in-history gigs, concerts with world-class orchestras, and talks from cultural icons and political giants.
Join today from £69
For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
Within the Queen Elizabeth Hall you’ll find our glass-fronted Concrete Cafe, the ideal spot to recharge, or catch up with friends, whilst the bustle of Central London and the River Thames carries on around you.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.