| Your guide to Classical Pride 2024 Drag with a live orchestra, LGBTQ+ choirs, a London Symphony Orchestra concert presented by Nick Grimshaw... Classical Pride is back, and much bigger than before.
The festival, which is all about celebrating LGBTQ+ classical music and performers, debuted last year as a one-off concert at the Barbican. This time, it's expanded into a FIVE-DAY multi-venue affair, presented in partnership with ViiV Healthcare and GAY TIMES.
It's all happening 3-7 July — the perfect crescendo to Pride Month festivities! Tickets to all events are on sale now, and net proceeds will be split between three incredible LGBTQ+ charities (Rainbow Railroad, Terrence Higgins Trust and GAY TIMES' AMPLIFUND). Check out the programme below and then get booking! |
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| Classical Drag The fun begins on 3 July, when the stars of London's drag scene go head-to-head at HERE at Outernet. Catch exclusive performances by Ru Paul's Drag Race royalty Monét X Change and Thorgy Thor, West End diva Vinegar Strokes, drag king Beau Jangles, trans-masc opera star Freddie Love, and instrumentalists Snow White Trash and Barbs— alongside a live orchestra. |
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| From Britten To Waller-Bridge Immerse yourself in the epic love story of composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears with the Fourth Choir on 4 July. Drawing from the pair's love letters, London's LGBTQ+ choir perform My Beloved Man at the Barbican. The evening also includes the world premiere of a new work by Isobel Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Emma).
Image: Matthew Johnson |
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| Classic Music's Rising Stars Discover the talent of tomorrow at A Proud Future — a series of concerts showcasing LGBTQ+ students from leading London conservatoires. These six half-hour performances take place at St Giles-without-Cripplegate, the medieval parish church that sits at the heart of the Barbican, on 5 July.
Image: Lakruwan Rajapaksha |
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| Free Foyer Performance Julius Eastman's Gay Guerilla — which recasts a 16th century Martin Luther hymn as a manifesto about being a gay Black man — takes over the Barbican's ground floor foyer on 6 July. Swing by to hear this minimalist piece performed by an ensemble put together by Stephen Upshaw, in an arrangement for septet by US composer Jessie Montgomery. |
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| LSO Extravaganza See Classical Pride out in style with a diverse programme celebrating LGBTQ+ music past and present, on 7 July at the Barbican. Presented by broadcaster Nick Grimshaw and conducted by Classical Pride founder Oliver Zeffman, this London Symphony Orchestra concert features works by Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Jake Heggie and Cassandra Miller, to name but a few.
Image: Matthew Johnson |
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