Event cancelled: João Barradas (accordion): ECHO Rising Stars

In light of the circumstances involving the COVID-19 virus, this performance has been cancelled.
The Barbican Box Office will be in touch with ticket holder regarding refunds. 

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The classical accordion is undergoing a 21st century renaissance – and Portuguese-born ECHO Rising Star João Barradas is in the vanguard.

In fact, while it’s the mission of the ECHO series to bring you the major artists of tomorrow, Barradas is something of a superstar already. Determined to rewrite the rules about what an accordion can do, he moves with effortless style between the worlds of jazz, classical, folk and improv.

But the mood today is unmistakably classical, ranging from the timeless clarity and invention of the European baroque – with transcriptions by Bach and Scarlatti – to one of the true classics of the Latin repertoire, Astór Piazzolla’s masterly tango through the four seasons of Buenos Aires. And French maverick Yann Robin has composed something specially for him: we don’t yet know what it sounds like, but we do know that it’ll be compelling.

Nominated by Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon, Casa da Música Porto and Philharmonie Luxembourg.