George Barton is a solo, chamber and orchestral percussionist and timpanist based in London.
He is a member of the Colin Currie Group and the Riot Ensemble, and has also worked with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, London Sinfonietta, Explore Ensemble, Nash Ensemble, Britten Sinfonia, Aurora Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, London Mozart Players, Music Theatre Wales, BBC Singers, Mahogany Opera Group, and London Contemporary Orchestra, among many other ensembles and orchestras.
As a solo artist George has performed at the Music at Oxford concert series, the Southbank Centre's "The Rest is Noise" festival, the "Occupy the Pianos" festival at St John's Smith Square, and at a number of Nonclassical events across London, among other venues across the UK. He was principal percussion soloist in the premiere of Benedict Mason's massive Hotel Paradiso at the TransArt festival, Bolzano. His collaboration with Turner Prize -winning artist Jeremy Deller at the Barbican's Station to Station festival was featured on BBC2's Artsnight. His solo playing has been featured on BBC Radio 3. He was featured soloist at Filthy Lucre's The Sounding Body concerts and clubnight - footage available on the media page.
As an ensemble and orchestral player he has performed at all the major London concert halls, as well as such venues as the Cologne Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tokyo Opera City, and many others.
His arrangements have been performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, 12 ensemble, and GBSR Duo. His arrangement of Harold Budd & Brian Eno's Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror for 12 Ensemble was described as "a beautifully imaginative reworking, done with great tact and refinement" by Andrew Clements in The Guardian.
He has performed chamber music at various venues around the UK and abroad, including the Concertgebouw Grote Zaal, Amsterdam, Cité de la Musique, Paris, Delft Chamber Music Festival, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
With duo partner Siwan Rhys he is one half of the GBSR duo, a piano and percussion duo with a reputation for exceptional interpretations of the existing piano-and-percussion repertoire, well-chosen commissions, and committed performances of new works.
