Thank you to all who attended Always, Already There at the Barbican and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, 23-25 Oct 2026.
Radio 3 New Music Show will broadcast some of the concerts, so keep an ear out:
Saturday 31 October
Marisse Cato – ELASTIC(mother)
Corie Rose Soumah – Tossed Parachutes of Lilacs and Lungs
Ahmed Essyad – Asselman for amplified bass flute
Pamela Z – Other Rooms works for solo voice, electronics and video
Saturday 7 November
Hannah Kendall – building a burning house
George Lewis – …and other spirits
Saturday 14 November
Black Art Notes
fear of a creole planet / fear of a black universe
Paul Gilroy, George Lewis and Elaine Mitchener in conversation
On 11 July 2026, cultural theorist Paul Gilroy and composer George Lewis joined Elaine Mitchener, curator of Always, Already There, online to explore and discuss mis-genring, and the assumptions that shape how Black composers/ creatives and their work are heard, understood and recognised.
This conversation offers a critical entry point into the wider weekend programme of Always, Already There (23-25 Oct, 2026), bringing into focus the diverse histories, communities and aesthetic practices explored through its music and performances.
Gilroy, Lewis and Mitchener invite viewers to question established categories and consider how different Black experiences reshape our understanding of contemporary new music and its possibilities.
Always, Already There 23-25 Oct 2026
The first UK edition of George Lewis’s Afrodiasporic Incubator project, curated by vocalist and composer Elaine Mitchener, presented by the Barbican and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
For the first time in the UK, through performances, talks and installations, AAT turns the spotlight on a rich, radical, diverse and resonant body of experimental music from composers who have been tightly policed as to which genres they could occupy, and excluded, both imaginatively and literally, from the contemporary music space.
Produced by the Barbican in partnership with Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Always, Already There has received generous support from SHM Foundation, Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and Trevor Fenwick & Jane Hindley and additional support from Reece Ewing.
Barbican Classical Music Programme receives major support from Marcus Margulies and additional support In Memory of John Murray.