We're used to The Barbican providing plenty of musical greatness over the years and months, especially in recent times. It's with great delight, then, that we bring you the news of their Spring Season of Contemporary Music. Have a peek below for a round-up of what's going on in Spring 2012 at the great London institution, handily copied and pasted from the press release.

[quote]

• Awakenings: A Kronos Quartet Residency (21 – 27 January)
• A series of concerts inspired by New York’s innovative music scene, featuring Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, the world premiere performances of Nico Muhly’s Cello Concerto and Owen Pallett’s Violin Concerto,
• Bang on a Can All-Stars and more (March & April)
• The National’s Bryce and Aaron Dessner and visual artist Matthew Ritchie presenting their collaborative multimedia spectacle The Long Count, about the Mayan calendar and the beginning of time (2–4 February)
• The Floating Palace – an evening of free-wheeling collaborations curated by Robyn Hitchcock and featuring an exciting line-up including KT Tunstall, Martin and Eliza Carthy, Abigail Washburn and Howe Gelb (8 February)
• Music Nation weekend featuring Urban Classic with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and leading artists from the UK’s urban music scene on the Barbican’s 30th birthday (3 March); and Rufus Wainwright performing the UK premiere of his exquisite settings of five of Shakespeare’s sonnets with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (4 March)
• Alt-rock and country icons The Jayhawks presenting songs from their new album Mockingbird Time (8 March)
• Legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea joining forces with vibes player Gary Burton, in a rare reappearance of one of jazz’s most absorbing partnerships (11 April)
• Gavin Bryars’ The Sinking of the Titanic featuring Gavin Bryars Ensemble & Philip Jeck and projections of archival images curated by Bill Morrison and Laurie Olinder coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the vessel in 1912 (15 April)
• Celebrated composer and bandleader Goran Bregovic brings his new project Margot, Diary Of An Unhappy Queen to the Barbican (6 July)
• Big Star Third – a concert performance of Big Star’s legendary Sister Lovers album featuring the original orchestrations brought to life by an all-star band (28 May)
• A special Nordic Focus includes Norwegian Trio Mediaeval joining forces with jazz trumpeter and singer Arve Henriksen; Finnish accordion adventurist Kimmo Pohjonen’s Accordion Wrestling at York Hall, and Norwegian 10-piece collective Jaga Jazzist with the Britten Sinfonia
• Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis return to the Barbican (July) and venues around East London for their second International Associate Residency, culminating in the UK premiere of his Swing Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

[/quote]

So that is all fairly comprehensive, but it's actually only a round-up. But yeah, it does look very tasty. Tickets for the above events went on sale to Barbican members today and go on general sale on Wednesday November 2 at 10AM. Click here to get them.

Photo by Monty Paul on Flickr