The highly-anticipated inaugural London Soundtrack Festival 2025 – the capital’s first festival dedicated to the music of film, TV, and games music – is set to take place from 19-26 March.

In association with BFI, the Festival is hosted by some of the capital’s greatest cultural venues, including BFI IMAX, The Barbican, Alexandra Palace, Royal Festival Hall, The Roundhouse and Wigmore Hall. The programme features several of London’s leading orchestras as well as the biggest names in film, TV and games music.

Festival Highlights include:

Headline composer Howard Shore takes centre stage in the Festival’s Gala Concert, where the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Ben Palmer perform many of his key works alongside music by the Festival’s other featured composers. Several special guest hosts will join for the evening, including director and long-time collaborator David Cronenberg, who will present Shore with the inaugural Gunning Inspiration Award during the concert [22 March].
Shore and Cronenberg will also present an exclusive In Conversation event, discussing their 40-year-long collaboration, and jointly introduce screenings of Crash and Dead Ringers [22 March].
The Lord of the Rings trilogy screened back-to-back and introduced by Howard Shore [23 March].
Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir introduces screenings of Tár (with Cate Blanchett) [The Barbican, 21 March], Joker and Joker: Folie à Deux [BFI IMAX, 25 March] and is celebrated in a concert of her music for film and TV at Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Contemporary Orchestra conducted by Robert Ames, preceded by an in-conversation event with the composer herself [26 March].
Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley presents an evening of Great Movie Songs at The Roundhouse with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and singers Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys), Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Omar, Lance Ellington, Louise Dearman and Monica Mancini. The programme includes much-loved songs as diverse as ‘Everybody’s Talkin’’ from Midnight Cowboy, ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ from High Society and ‘Up Where We Belong’ from An Officer and a Gentleman, with Shears and Tennant teaming up to perform Pet Shop Boys favourite ‘Rent’, as featured in the multi-BAFTA-nominated Saltburn [25 March].
The BBC Concert Orchestra performs popular hits from film and television at Alexandra Palace in a live edition of the BBC’s Friday Night Is Music Night, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Richard Balcombe conducts some of the best-known themes ever written for screens big and small, including James Bond, ET, Poirot, Out of Africa, Pride and Prejudice and more [21 March].
Screenings with live orchestra include the first-ever live-in-concert screening of The Silence of the Lambs with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields at the Barbican conducted by Ben Palmer, and featuring an exclusive post-show Q&A with Howard Shore and special guests afterwards [24 March]. Charlie Chaplin’s grandson, Spencer Chaplin, leads a pre-show talk before a live performance of Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece Modern Times at Cadogan Hall [19 March]. Anna Meredith also introduces a live chamber performance of her score for Bo Burnham’s film Eighth Grade at BFI IMAX [20 March].
The Games Music: State of the Art day at The Roundhouse culminates in a spectacular concert by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra playing music from Baldur’s Gate 3, Death Stranding, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Metal Gear Solid and Battlefield 2042, introduced by the composers themselves, and featuring guest singers Andrew Wincott (Raphael, Baldur’s Gate 3) and Mariya Anastasova (lead vocalist on Baldur’s Gate 3 OST) [23 March]. The day also includes a signing session and panel discussion with leading composers including:
Stephen Barton (Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Titanfall 2, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor)
Stephanie Economou (Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Dawn of Ragnarök)
Ludvig Forssell (Death Stranding, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes & The Phantom Pain)
Harry Gregson-Williams (Call of Duty, Gladiator II, The Chronicles of Narnia)
Hildur Guðnadóttir (Battlefield 2042)
Gordy Haab (The Walking Dead, Kinect: Star Wars)
Borislav Slavov (Baldur’s Gate 3, Crysis, Warface, Ryse: Son of Rome)
Tickets to the Festival are on sale now. For full details of the programme, and to sign up for the newsletter to hear about future updates, please visit londonsoundtrackfestival.com and follow the Festival on social media (@LDNSoundtrack).