Multi-award-winning sitarist and composer Jasdeep Singh Degun has been announced as a Barbican Artist in Residence, presenting a major programme of work from October 2026 to April 2027.
The residency will feature a series of high-profile performances, including the world premiere of a new Sitar Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London premiere of Degun’s acclaimed reimagining of Orpheus.
Degun is recognised as a leading voice in contemporary music, known for redefining the possibilities of the sitar across genres and disciplines.
In 2024, he became the first British Asian musician to receive the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award, marking a significant milestone in his career.
“I’m very grateful to the Barbican for inviting me to be Artist in Residence. It’s a real privilege to have the opportunity to bring together different strands of my music across a series of performances – from sharing the stage with Ustad Sukhvinder Singh ‘Pinky’ at the Darbar Festival, to premiering a new sitar concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and bringing Orpheus to London in a new semi-staged production,” said Jasdeep Singh Degun.
“I’ve always seen my work as a part of the wider musical landscape in the UK, moving naturally between different contexts and tradition. This residency allows me to share this in a meaningful way, and marks a significant milestone for me personally. I’m very much looking forward to presenting my music and connecting with new audiences.”
The residency opens at Milton Court Concert Hall with a performance alongside tabla maestro Sukhvinder Singh ‘Pinky’ as part of the Darbar Festival, celebrating the depth and richness of Indian classical music.
At the heart of the residency is the world premiere of Degun’s new Sitar Concerto, commissioned by the Barbican and performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kirill Karabits.
The programme will place Degun’s work alongside John Adams’ The Chairman Dances and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 7, situating his music within a broader classical tradition.
The residency concludes with the London premiere of Orpheus, Degun’s cross-cultural reworking of Claudio Monteverdi’s opera, co-directed with Ashok Gupta.
Bringing together artists from Indian and Western classical traditions, the production combines Monteverdi’s original score with newly composed material.
Helen Wallace, Head of Music at the Barbican, said, “Jasdeep cuts a unique and pioneering figure in music today, appealing to a wide range of our Barbican audiences, from the classical, Indian classical and contemporary.
“We’re so thrilled to be working with him, bringing his captivating opera to London, commissioning a major new concerto and presenting more intimate encounters in our spaces.”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
