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Witheach chord,
classical music
of timeless pride
Classical Pride Flowing Shape IconoClassical Pride Type LogoClassical pride Main Sponsor logo

Classical Pride is an annual music festival curated by conductor Oliver Zeffman to celebrate the breadth and diversity of LGBTQ+ artists across classical music.

The inaugural 2023 edition of Classical Pride was the first time any major orchestra or concert hall anywhere in Europe had celebrated Pride.

In 2024, Classical Pride expanded to a 5-day festival involving major names including the London Symphony Orchestra, Nick Grimshaw, Monét X Change, Thorgy Thor, Pavel Kolesnikov and Pumeza Matshikiza.

The vocalist of the Classical Pride group during a live performance
Classical Pride 2024

Festival Events

Tickets available
SOLD OUT
Free event

Classical Drag

HERE at Outernet

Classical Drag blends the high camp, virtuosity and gender-fluid casting of opera with a series of dazzling drag performances. See Snow White Trash, Barbs, Beau Jangles, Freddie Love and Vinegar Strokes compete before a star-studded judging panel that includes Ru Paul’s Drag Race royalty Monét X Change and Thorgy Thor, plus queer operatic tenor megastar Nicky Spence.

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Wednesday, July 3, 2024
19:00
Tickets available
SOLD OUT
Free event

My Beloved Man

Milton Court Concert Hall, Barbican

The Fourth Choir, with conductor Nicholas Chalmers and presenter Petroc Trelawny, explore the 39-year relationship between Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, featuring a new commission from Isobel Waller-Bridge, with text by a refugee relocated by Rainbow Railroad.

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Friday, July 5, 2024
19:30
Tickets available
SOLD OUT
Free event

A Proud Future

St Giles Cripplegate, Barbican

A series of performances showcasing the best young LGBTQ+ composers and performers from the London conservatoires.

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Saturday, July 6, 2024
11:30
Tickets available
SOLD OUT
Free event

Julius Eastman’s Gay Guerilla

Foyer, Barbican

Free public performance in the Barbican Foyer, performed by the Julius Eastman Ensemble directed by Stephen Upshaw.

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Sunday, July 7, 2024
17:30
Tickets available
SOLD OUT
Free event

LSO with Oliver Zeffman & Nick Grimshaw

Barbican Hall, Barbican

With soloists Pavel Kolesnikov, Pumeza Matshikiza and Russell Thomas, an LGBTQ+ Community Choir and a world premiere by composer Jake Heggie.

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Sunday, July 7, 2024
19:00
Classical Pride is non-profit

Proceeds are donated to three important LGBTQ+ charities

Sponsors

Series Sponsor
R. Martin Chavez
Principal sponsors
Marchus Trust
Yan Tang
Sponsors
Lincoln Benet and Quentin Duelin
David Kaskel and Chris Teano
The Robert Gavron Charitable Trust
Supporters
William Benet
Rachael and Taweh Beysolow
Lord Donoughue
Dario Magliochetti and Tom Sleigh
John Parry and Oliver Zeffman
Lady Rayne
Mark Redman
Sir William and Lady Hilary Russell
Media partners
Hotel Partner
Classical Pride 2023

Figures

Grit, gliter, grief and a fresh perspective

There was a big proposition casually unpackaged at this, the first Classical Pride to be presented by a leading European orchestra...If one can distil Pride spirit, perhaps it was best captured by Spence, clad in a rainbow-fringed kilt and singing Robert Burns's My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose with ripe abandon.

A master stroke of brillance from Classical Pride

It was billed as the first-ever Classical Pride concert anywhere in Europe, which seems a surprising omission...Finally came Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, played with tremendous ardour and shrewd dramatic timing under Zeffman's baton.

Witheach chord,
classical music
of timeless pride
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Classical Pride is promoted by

OZERO ARTS, an arts production charity that undertakes ambitious artistic projects - conceiving, producing and raising money for bold ideas across live and recorded music.