THE FUTURE IS SOUND 2026

SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER :: 10AM–5PM :: CINEMA 1

A day where live performance, immersive experiences and bold ideas come together to explore the future of music, culture and the human experience.

OFFICIAL CHARITY PARTNER · EARTHPERCENT

EARTHPERCENT harnesses the power of music to fund climate action, bringing artists, the industry and audiences together to protect the planet.

MORNING SESSIONS

DOORS · 10AM

FEEL THE FUTURE

JIMMY KYRIACOU · LJ RICH (Co-Hosts)

A short opening to THE FUTURE IS SOUND 2026 and an invitation to experience what comes next.

THE STATE OF EMERGENCY

A LIVE AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCE LECTURE

RUTH DANIEL · IN PLACE OF WAR
FAABIA TEKENA-SEKIBO · ARTIST
DIRECTED BY MATT BLACK · COLDCUT

Created by the team behind IN PLACE OF WAR, this urgent new work brings together sound, film, conversation and live performance.

Drawing on frontline experiences from around the world, it asks what music, art and culture can do in a time of multiple crises, and how creativity can become a force for hope, connection and action.

LONDON 2035

THE FUTURE OF A MUSIC CITY

Learning from, not longing for, the past.

Writer and cultural commentator ANDY CRYSELL explores what London’s extraordinary musical history can teach us about its future.

What must we protect, change and build now for London to thrive as a music city in 2035?

JOINED BY SPECIAL GUEST ANNOUNCED SOON

BISHI LIVE

AN EXCERPT FROM MAYA: THE BIRTH OF A SUPERHERO

London-born British-Bengali artist, composer, producer and electric sitarist BISHI works at the intersection of sound, heritage and innovation.

Combining a four-octave vocal range with electric sitar, electronics and performance technology, her work moves between music, film, visual art and immersive media.

Featuring visuals from Maya She Lives Inside Me by ILĀ, created using generative AI.

INTRODUCED BY KATE FLEUR YOUNG

WHAT ARE THE ARTS FOR?

BUILDING A BETTER WORLD

BISHI · ARTIST, COMPOSER AND ELECTRIC SITARIST

NATALINI · CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, KOKO FOUNDATION

CHOOSE LOVE · SPEAKER TO BE ANNOUNCED

MODERATED BY CATHY RUNCIMAN · CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EARTHPERCENT

Artists, activists and cultural leaders come together to explore what music, creativity, compassion and culture can make possible when they are placed in service of humanity.

A conversation about moving beyond awareness and using culture to create meaningful change.

SMARTPHONE SYMPHONY

NO APP REQUIRED

Musician, broadcaster and technologist LJ RICH transforms every audience phone in the Barbican Cinema into part of a live electronic orchestra.

Hundreds of individual devices. One shared piece of music.

Turn up the volume and prepare to play your part!

AFTERNOON SESSIONS

PROGRAMME · 14:00–17:00

SUUVI LIVE

UK DEBUT SOLO SHOW

Cuban-Chinese cellist, composer and producer SUUVI began playing cello at two and entered Juilliard’s Pre-College programme at ten.

Following a sold-out Carnegie Hall debut, she was scouted by HANS ZIMMER and toured arenas around the world as the featured solo cellist in The World of Hans Zimmer.

Now emerging as a singular force in experimental music, SUUVI brings together virtuosic cello, voice, spatial electronics and deeply immersive storytelling.

This special Barbican appearance marks SUUVI’s first UK solo show.

INTRODUCED BY KATE FLEUR YOUNG

MODERN SANCTUARIES FOR RECONNECTION

A SPECIAL WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY CONVERSATION

SUUVI · ARTIST, COMPOSER AND CELLIST

GEORGE GOLDSMITH · FOUNDER, COMPASS PATHWAYS · CO-FOUNDER, BOUNDLESS STUDIOS

Following SUUVI’s UK debut performance, artist and audience move into a conversation about music’s extraordinary ability to guide emotion, support healing and reconnect us with ourselves and one another.

GEORGE GOLDSMITH has spent years exploring the relationship between mental health, human transformation and the power of music.

Through BOUNDLESS, he is bringing artists, scientists and technologists together to create modern sanctuaries where art and science converge in service of human wellbeing.

Together, SUUVI and GEORGE GOLDSMITH ask what these new spaces could become, and why we need them now.

PRESENTED BY BOUNDLESS

THE WALDORF PROJECT

SEAN ROGG Artist & Futurist introduces THE WALDORF PROJECT & a rare glimpse inside the creative world behind the one-off sonic experience coming to Ladbroke Hall the following evening.

IMMERSIVE 2.0

DESIGNING THE FUTURE OF SHARED EXPERIENCE

SEAN ROGG · ROBOT KOCH · RUTHLSS

HOSTED BY JULIE BLORE-BIZOT · L-ACOUSTICS

Three boundary-pushing artists come together for a conversation exploring how immersive sound, technology and new creative formats are transforming what live experiences can become.

Featuring internationally acclaimed composer and producer ROBOT KOCH, multidisciplinary emerging UK artist RUTHLSS and Waldorf Project creator SEAN ROGG.

This is not a conversation about technology for its own sake. It is about how technology can bring us closer to the music, the artist and one another.

PRESENTED BY L-ACOUSTICS

SONIC INTERVENTION

ARTIST TO BE ANNOUNCED

A live encounter between music, movement and immersive sound.

SUZANNE CIANI · BEATIE WOLFE

CLOSING CONVERSATION

Five-time Grammy-nominated composer and electronic music pioneer SUZANNE CIANI meets musician and artist BEATIE WOLFE for a rare closing conversation.

Ciani helped shape the language of electronic sound through her groundbreaking work with the Buchla synthesiser.

Wolfe has continually reimagined what an album can be, creating new connections between music, technology, art and memory, most recently through her creative collaboration with BRIAN ENO.

Two pioneering artists from different generations come together to explore creativity, technology, connection and why music matters.

PRESENTED BY KOKO FOUNDATION

PROGRAMME ENDS 5PM