Song in the City

Song in the City Song in the City takes classical music out of its comfort zone Song in the City uses the power of song to change people's lives in all parts of our society.

We devise projects that use the talents of classical musicians to make a real difference in the world at large, and to stretch these artists, and our audiences in creative ways.

MOLLY BAKER & THOMAS EECKHOUT | WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS’ CONCERTNext in our introductions ahead of Friday’s WordSong Prize...
14/09/2026

MOLLY BAKER & THOMAS EECKHOUT | WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS’ CONCERT

Next in our introductions ahead of Friday’s WordSong Prizewinners’ Concert: soprano Molly Baker .baker, winner of the Dorothy Richardson Prize, joined by pianist Thomas Eeckhout.

Their prizewinning programme, When the Heart Would Stay, moves through poetry by Edmund Waller, Rabindranath Tagore, Shakespeare, William Blake and Laurence Alma-Tadema, with music by Roger Quilter, Richard Hageman, Alison Bauld, Wilfred Sanderson, Florence Price and Liza Lehmann.

Molly is a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Guildhall School of Music & Drama Vocal Department Guildhall School of Music & Drama Vocal Department and this month begins her Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music Royal College of Music, London . Thomas is a Guildhall-trained pianist and accompanist who has performed at Oxford Lieder Festival and won the Guildhall Piano Accompaniment Prize.

Hear Molly and Thomas alongside this year’s other WordSong prizewinners in an evening of song, poetry, drama and new music at St Giles Cripplegate.

Friday 18 September, 7.30pm
St Giles Cripplegate, Barbican
Tickets from £8 — link in bio

ArtSong SongRecital ClassicalSinging YoungArtists LondonConcerts Barbican StGilesCripplegate

ADRIAN THOMPSON & STEPHEN GUTMAN | WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS’ CONCERTWe’re delighted that tenor Adrian Thompson and pianist ...
08/09/2026

ADRIAN THOMPSON & STEPHEN GUTMAN | WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS’ CONCERT

We’re delighted that tenor Adrian Thompson and pianist Stephen Gutman will join us at St Giles Cripplegate on 18 September to perform the prize-winning songs from this year’s Sarah Leonard Songwriting Prize.

This year’s theme is Journeys, with four new settings of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe, Elinor Wylie and Edna St Vincent Millay:
🥉 Eldorado Thomas Eeckhout, Joint 3rd Prize
🥈 Velvet Shoes Max Knight Max Knight, 2nd Prize
🥉 Velvet Shoes Nicholas Gawley Nicholas Gawley, Joint 3rd Prize
🥇 Travel Dimitris Androniadis, 1st Prize

There are special connections to WordSong here too. Adrian Thompson is the organisation’s new Chair, while Stephen Gutman enjoyed a long-standing musical collaboration with Sarah Leonard, WordSong’s much-loved former Chair, in whose memory the composition prize is named.

Actor Fortune Ibrahim will also read the poems that inspired the four new settings.

We’re also delighted to be working with , who champion and promote new song and the work of living composers.
Part of an evening bringing together the winners of WordSong’s singing, acting and composition prizes — and opening Song in the City’s new season at St Giles.

📅 Friday 18 September, 7.30pm
📍 St Giles Cripplegate, Barbican
🎟 Tickets from £8 — link in bio

NewMusic ContemporaryClassical YoungComposers LondonConcerts Barbican StGilesCripplegate

MEET THE PRIZEWINNERS: FORTUNE IBRAHIMActor Fortune Ibrahim joins us at St Giles Cripplegate on 18 September as the winn...
05/09/2026

MEET THE PRIZEWINNERS: FORTUNE IBRAHIM

Actor Fortune Ibrahim joins us at St Giles Cripplegate on 18 September as the winner of the Concert Artists’ Association Prize for Actors at the WordSong competitions.

Currently studying Acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Royal Central London Fortune has created a programme exploring womanhood, identity, racial experience, faith and resilience through poetry, drama, monologue and song.

Her programme, ‘Venus walks with a sway in her hips’, brings together voices including Maya Angelou, William Shakespeare, Ntozake Shange, Michaela Coel and Bernard Dadié.

Fortune will also return in the second half to read the poems chosen for this year’s Sarah Leonard Songwriting Prize, Journeys.

Friday 18 September, 7.30pm
St Giles Cripplegate, Barbican
Tickets from £8 (link in bio)

WordSong Prizewinners’ Concert
Presented by WordSong and Song in the City.

02/09/2026

🇺🇦 MUSIC TO THE RESCUE 🇺🇦

Music, storytelling and humanitarian purpose come together in a special recital supporting life-saving aid for Ukraine.

Created and led by Ukrainian-British mezzo-soprano , Music To The Rescue brings Ukraine’s cultural heritage vividly to life through song and historical storytelling.

Anna is joined by Song in the City Artistic Director Gavin Roberts for music by Ukrainian and British composers, including Nyzhankivsky, Filtz, Shamo, Britten, Jonathan Dove, Kristina Arakelyan and John Whittaker.

The evening will conclude with a screening of Magura, a short operatic film dedicated to the missing people of war in Ukraine.

In the face of war, Music To The Rescue is a quiet act of artistic defiance - a reminder that beauty, dignity and hope endure even in the darkest times.

Friday 9 October 2026 7.30pm�St Giles Cripplegate Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT
Tickets via the link in our bio

The concert raises funds for .intl and its work delivering urgently needed medical and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Music: Shamo: Oi, hop-hopaka, performed by Anna Starushkevych and Lada Valesova.

Previous Music To The Rescue performance footage filmed by 7 FRAMES.

LondonConcerts Barbican SongInTheCity

WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS IN CONCERTMeet baritone Rayaan Vyas, winner of the 2026 Catherine Lambert Prize, performing with p...
01/09/2026

WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS IN CONCERT

Meet baritone Rayaan Vyas, winner of the 2026 Catherine Lambert Prize, performing with pianist Yvain Calvo Caballero at the WordSong Prizewinners’ Concert this September.

Rayaan and Yvain Yvain Calvo Caballero are one of the outstanding young duos appearing in a special evening celebrating the winners of WordSong’s national competitions in English speech and song.

The concert brings together singers, pianists, actors and composers for an evening of song, poetry, spoken performance and new music — and opens Song in the City’s 2026–27 season.

WordSong Prizewinners’ Concert
Friday 18 September 2026
7.30pm St Giles Cripplegate, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DA
Tickets from £8 — booking link in bio

Presented by Song in the City in partnership with WordSong.

Yvain Calvo Caballero

ArtSong EnglishSong ClassicalSinging ClassicalMusic EmergingArtists LondonConcerts Barbican StGilesCripplegate

WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS IN CONCERTMeet Natalka Pasicznyk, winner of the 2026 Patricia Routledge Prize, performing with pia...
31/08/2026

WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS IN CONCERT

Meet Natalka Pasicznyk, winner of the 2026 Patricia Routledge Prize, performing with pianist Bohdana Ravliuk at the WordSong Prizewinners’ Concert this September St Giles Cripplegate

Natalka Natalka Pasicznyk and Bohdana Bohdana Ravliuk | Pianist will perform “Behind the comforting shield of night” as part of an evening bringing together winners of WordSong’s national competitions in singing, acting and composition.

The concert also opens Song in the City’s 2026–27 season at St Giles Cripplegate.

WordSong Prizewinners’ Concert
Friday 18 September 2026 7.30pm
St Giles Cripplegate, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DA
Tickets from £8 - booking link in bio

Presented by Song in the City in partnership with WordSong.

@ natalka_pas @ bohdanaravliuk

ArtSong EnglishSong ClassicalSinging ClassicalMusic EmergingArtists LondonConcerts Barbican StGilesCripplegate

WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS IN CONCERTWe’re delighted to welcome WordSong to Song in the City for a celebration of some of the...
18/08/2026

WORDSONG PRIZEWINNERS IN CONCERT
We’re delighted to welcome WordSong to Song in the City for a celebration of some of the most exciting emerging talent in song, speech, piano and composition.

Patricia Routledge Prize
Natalka Pasicznyk, soprano — Natalka Pasicznyk
Bohdana Ravliuk, piano — Bohdana Ravliuk | Pianist

Catherine Lambert Prize
Rayaan Vyas, baritone — 
Yvain Calvo Caballero, piano — Yvain Calvo Caballero

Dorothy Richardson Prize
Molly Baker, soprano — .baker
Thomas Eeckhout, piano

CAA Acting Prize
Fortune Ibrahim

Sarah Leonard Songwriting Prize
Winning settings by Dimitrios Androniadis, Max Knight Max Knight, Nicholas Gawley Nicholas Gawley and Thomas Eeckhout.

Join us at St Giles Cripplegate for a showcase of WordSong’s prizewinners, celebrating the English language in all its possibilities through speech and song.

📅 Friday 18 September 2026
🕢 7.30pm
📍 St Giles Cripplegate, Barbican
🎟 Tickets from £8 — link in bio

NewMusic Songwriting EmergingArtists YoungArtists LondonConcerts Barbican StGilesCripplegate

LAST FEW TICKETS AVAILABLEAfter an extraordinary premiere at St Giles Cripplegate, Creative Minds in Song returns this S...
20/06/2026

LAST FEW TICKETS AVAILABLE

After an extraordinary premiere at St Giles Cripplegate, Creative Minds in Song returns this Sunday for a second and final performance.

Over six months, writers with lived experience of mental illness have collaborated with composers and performers from Guildhall School of Music & Drama to create eleven brand new songs exploring identity, resilience, memory, belonging, humour, nature and hope.

Join us for an inspiring afternoon of world premieres, poetry and song, performed by an outstanding cast of emerging artists:
Hannah Hughes
Borbála
.stamp.musical.movements
Kelan Lynch | Countertenor
Jacob Cole
William Prasetyo
Will Jowett

with new music by:
Michał Kawecki
Mary Offer
Dominic Wright


and support from our wonderful mentors:
Raymond Yiu
Alex Knox
Andrew Watts
Gavin Roberts

Sunday 21 June, 5pm
Royal Foundation of St Katharine, Limehouse Royal Foundation St Katharine

Last few tickets remaining:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/songinthecitycharitytrust/2050485

Song in the City

MentalHealthAwareness PoetryAndMusic

06/06/2026

Thank you Emily for your reflections on writing your poem as part of our Creative Minds in Song project last night at St Giles Cripplegate!

Special thanks to our partners and MIND in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Redbridge, and to everyone at who helped make the project possible.

The journey isn’t quite over yet - we do it all again on 21 June at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine.

MentalHealthAwareness PoetryAndMusic CommunityArts

About last night...What began a few months ago with a room full of strangers and blank sheets of paper culminated in an ...
06/06/2026

About last night...

What began a few months ago with a room full of strangers and blank sheets of paper culminated in an unforgettable evening at St Giles Cripplegate including eleven world premieres!

Thank you to everyone who shared their stories, their creativity, their vulnerability and their artistry. The honesty in the room was extraordinary, and the audience’s response reminded us why projects like this matter.

Huge congratulations to our writers, composers and performers:


.kenesey
.stamp.musical.movements


.william

.kawecki.composer



and heartfelt thanks to our mentors and collaborators:




Special thanks also to our partners and MIND in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Redbridge, and to everyone at who helped make the project possible.

The journey isn’t quite over yet - we do it all again on 21 June at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine.

MentalHealthAwareness PoetryAndMusic CommunityArts

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