Utzon Music 2025

Sydney — Monday 18 November 2024

The Sydney Opera House’s treasured Utzon Music series returns in 2025, now under the direction of renowned arts advocate, performer, composer and recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey. In its 18th edition, the year-round series will showcase a collection of the world's leading chamber musicians and renowned soloists from diverse classical traditions in the breathtaking Utzon Room.
 
Lacey’s vision for Utzon Music 2025 celebrates human curiosity and cultural discovery, welcoming a cast of 28 talented international and homegrown musicians to perform music of European, Norwegian, Persian, Scottish and contemporary Australian origin.

Genevieve Lacey, curator of Utzon Music 2025, says: "It’s a joy to curate this precious chamber music series for 2025. Utzon’s room, where light and water frame sound, is one of the most intimate and beautiful listening spaces in the country. Across the year, musicians from different generations and ancestries bring their classic traditions to vibrant life, nourishing us with the life force that is music. We look forward to welcoming you, and our stellar cast of musicians, many of whom will be in Australia for the first time.”

Over 10 Sundays from February to November, the series will feature several Australian debuts, unique first-time collaborations, six vibrant duos, a sublime solo cello recital and three larger ensembles. The program will include performances from Latvian sisters violinist Kristīne and cellist Margarita Balanas, Scottish mezzo-soprano and Cardiff Singer of the World Catriona Morison, Australian guitarist Slava Grigoryan, Lacey herself with Scottish-Australian classical accordionist James Crabb, as well as Vahideh Eisaei’s Persian classical collective, all-female German acapella group Sjaella, and a spellbinding finale featuring the Hardanger fiddle’s great contemporary player, Norwegian Benedicte Maurseth and her epic group.

Utzon Music 2025 features:

• Balanas Sisters || Sunday 16 February – Celebrated for their versatility and mesmerising stage presence, Latvian-born siblings Kristīne (violin) and Margarita Balanas (cello) make their Australian debut with works by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, excerpts of baroque favourite Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Anne Cawrse’s Sanctuary.
   
• Catriona Morison & Aura Go || Sunday 16 March – Scottish mezzo-soprano and Cardiff Singer of the World Catriona Morison joins forces with beloved Australian pianist Aura Go. In their first collaboration, the duo will perform an expansive set including Brahms, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Scottish and English folk songs and elegant piano solos by Swedish composer Hélène Tham.
   
• Marshall McGuire & Simon Martyn-Ellis || Sunday 6 April – This pair of renowned Australian musicians come together for a groundbreaking collaboration of harp and theorbo – two of Western music's most poetic instruments. This rare performance will blend baroque and contemporary compositions, including duets and solos by seventeenth-century maestros Froberger, Leonarda and Kapsberger as well as modern composers.
   
• Bronzewing: Katie Yap & Donald Nicolson || Sunday 18 May – Inspired by old compositional forms and the distinctive sound of their instruments, violist Katie Yap and harpsichord master Donald Nicolson will perform Nicolson’s own arrangements of melodies by von Bingen and Strozzi, a soulful Telemann sonata, a Couperin dreamy harpsichord solo and modern works celebrating the glories of the Australian landscape.
   
• Genevieve Lacey & James Crabb || Sunday 22 June – Scottish-Australian classical accordion maestro James Crabb traverses musical centuries with Australian recorder virtuoso and Utzon Music 2025 curator Genevieve Lacey. The duo will perform early music by Ortiz, Palestrina, Bach, and specially commissioned pieces culminating in a lively set of Scottish folk tunes.
   
• Sjaella || Sunday 13 July – All-female German acapella ensemble Sjaella present an ethereal program of music for voices. Stepping out of their usual sold-out halls and cathedrals around the world, these six women will sing works by Purcell, Janequin, Shaw, traditional folk songs of Norwegian, Irish, Icelandic, German and Finnish descent, and a gentle new work by young Sydney composer Alice Chance, learnt especially for their Sydney debut.
   
• Emily Sun & Slava Grigoryan || Sunday 17 August – Internationally acclaimed violinist Emily Sun returns home in an exciting new collaboration with multi-ARIA-winning guitarist Slava Grigoryan. The performance will include the world premiere of a serene new work by young Sydney composer Andrew Holmes, alongside pieces by Piazzolla, Paganini and more.
   
• Timeless: A Journey in Persian Classical Music || Sunday 28 September – Iranian-Australian storyteller and qanun player, Vahideh Eisaei presents a shimmering journey through classical Persian music, featuring traditional and new laments, lullabies and hypnotic dance tunes. Joining her are fellow Australian-based musicians Pegah Kheirdoush (kamancheh and ghaychak) and Sohrab Kolahdooz (percussion), along with distinguished Tehran-based artists Saba Pashaee (voice) and Hamid Khansari (oud) in a tender celebration of the exquisite sounds of the ever-evolving Persian culture.
   
• Annie Jacobs-Perkins || Sunday 12 October – Berlin-based American cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins makes her Australian debut for Utzon Music with a striking solo recital featuring works by eighteenth century Italian composer and cellist dall’Abaco, Madsen, Marais, Salonen, Norman and Bach. Praised for her “hypnotic lyricism” (The New Yorker), Jacobs-Perkins is a rising star with a slew of prizes and awards to her name, including the 2023 Pierre Fournier Award.
   
• Norwegian Tradition Reimagined || Sunday 23 November – Benedicte Maurseth and her extraordinary ensemble reimagine traditional Norwegian music, blending ancient traditions with modern atmospheric soundscapes. Featuring the rich tones of the Hardanger fiddle – a stringed instrument considered to be the national instrument of Norway – alongside Morten Qvenild on piano, Mats Eilertsen on bass and Håkon Stene on percussion, this rare performance brings to life Maurseth’s haunting new album Mirra, inspired by the landscapes of her northern Norwegian homeland.