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Matthew Barley: Light Stories

Sat 28 Sep 2024

The cellist harnesses the power of music to console, comfort and uplift in a specially commissioned concert experience, with visuals from Yeast Culture.

Matthew Barley playing the cello with light graphics

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

Age guidance
For ages 7+

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.

Concessions

25%

Limited availability

About concessions

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 offer

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.