THE FUTURE IS SOUND 2026

‍001 :: BARBICAN CENTRE :: 10 OCTOBER‍ 10:00 - 17:00

MORNING SESSIONS :: 10:00 - 13:00

AFTERNOON SESSIONS :: 14:00 -17:00

A full 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.

**SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW FULL MORNING & AFTERNOON SESSIONS**

ON STAGE AT THE BARBICAN

+SUZANNE CIANI — Electronic music pioneer · Closing Conversation
+BEATIE WOLFE — Artist & Innovator · Closing Conversation
+SUUVI — Cellist and composer · Live Performance / Modern Sanctuaries
+BISHI — Artist and electric sitarist · Live Performance / What Are the Arts For?
+LJ RICH — Musician and technologist · Co-host / Smartphone Symphony
+RUTH DANIEL — CEO, In Place of War · The State of Emergency
+FAABIA TEKENA-SEKIBO — Artist · The State of Emergency
+CUTECIRCUIT — Co-founders Ryan Genz and Francesca Rosella · The Storm‍ ‍+MATT BLACK — Ninja Tune / Coldcut co-founder · Director, The State of Emergency
+ANDY CRYSELL — Writer and cultural commentator · London 2035
+SHAIN SHAPIRO — Author, Sound Diplomacy founder · London 2035
+CATHY RUNCIMAN — Co-executive director, EarthPercent · What Are the Arts For?
+NATALINI — CEO and co-founder, KOKO Foundation · What Are the Arts For?
+EMMA STEVENSON — Acting CEO, Choose Love · What Are the Arts For?
+GEORGE GOLDSMITH — Co-founder, Boundless Studios · Modern Sanctuaries
+SEAN ROGG — Artist and futurist · The Waldorf Project / Immersive 2.0
+ROBOT KOCH — Composer and producer · Immersive 2.0
+RUTHLSS — Multidisciplinary artist · Immersive 2.0
+FINLAY JOHNSON — CEO, Association for Electronic Music · The Industry Response ‍ ‍+JULIE BLORE-BIZOT — L-Acoustics · Host, Immersive 2.0
+KATE FLEUR YOUNG — Artist and presenter · Live artist introductions
+MARTINA FUCHS — Co-Founder, The Frequency School · Sound Healing without borders
+JIMMY KYRIACOU — Founder, THE FUTURE IS SOUND · Co-host

MORNING SESSIONS

10AM - 1pm

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.

PRESENTED BY POINTBLANK MUSIC SCHOOL

LONDON 2035

THE FUTURE OF A MUSIC CITY

Learning from, not longing for, the past.

Writer, Author and Cultural Commentator ANDY CRYSELL explores what London’s extraordinary musical history can teach us about its future.

SHAIN SHAPIRO, author of This Must Be the Place and founder of Sound Diplomacy, brings a global perspective on what it takes to build a thriving music city.

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

PRESENTED BY AIAIAI

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

EMMA STEVENSON · DEPUTY CEO, CHOOSE LOVE

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.

WORLD FREQUENCY DAY 11.11 LONDON

SOUND HEALING WITHOUT BORDERS

INTRODUCED BY MARTINA FUCHS · CO-FOUNDER, FREQUENCY SCHOOL & WORLD FREQUENCY AWARDS

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

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.

FINLAY JOHNSON, CEO of the Association for Electronic Music, asks: What must the electronic music industry do now to enable the next wave of live?

PRESENTED BY L-ACOUSTICS

THE STORM

CUTECIRCUIT

The Storm by CuteCircuit transports audiences into a thunderstorm in the Hebrides through large-scale cinematic imagery, symphonic music and wearable haptics. An entire day unfolds in ten minutes, following the storm as it builds, recedes and returns across the islands’ hills, shores and fields, from dawn to sunset.

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