Utzon Music 2026

Sydney — Monday 17 November 2025

The Sydney Opera House’s vibrant Utzon Music series returns in 2026 for a 19th edition, welcoming back renowned arts advocate and performer Genevieve Lacey as curator for a second year. Set in the intimate Utzon Room – with one special detour to the Studio – the year-round program celebrates an exquisite collection of the world’s finest chamber musicians across cultures, generations and traditions.  

Continuing to expand the bold, contemporary vision of the series, Lacey’s expert curation draws from a rich palette spanning jazz, reimagined folk, baroque and Renaissance compositions, resulting in a season bursting with creative brilliance. The 2026 program features 11 performances from February to November, uniting 34 international and local artists and featuring several Australian debuts, remarkable new collaborations and virtuosic soloists. The series includes performances from shakuhachi and koto masters Riley Lee and Satsuki Odamura alongside Sydney string quartet Chroma Quartet, all-female Swedish vocal group Åkervinda, a rare solo oud recital from Yasamin Shahhosseini, and powerful cross-cultural meditations on water and identity led by Sunny Kim and her Ensemble Ochaye – and more. 

Genevieve Lacey, curator of Utzon Music 2026, says: “At Utzon Music, open-hearted listeners meet generous musicians up close. Whether it's tight Nordic harmonies, Persian radif, musical meditations on water, beloved classics or world premieres, you can be sure you'll be in the company of expressive, virtuosic and wildly imaginative musicians. It's been joyful to build a community of ardent, regular listeners through 2025, and we'd love to welcome friends old and new for the year ahead as together we celebrate chamber music in many guises.”

Utzon Music 2026 features:

• The Edge of Zen || Sunday 1 February, 3pm – Grand masters of Japanese music, shakuhachi player Riley Lee and koto player Satsuki Odamura, join Sydney string quartet Chroma Quartet for a meditative blend of traditional and modern Japanese and Western works. Performing music by trailblazing koto master Michio Miyagi, Debussy’s ethereal String Quartet, as well as evocative pieces by Australian composers Ross Edwards, Anne Boyd and her former student Lachlan Skipworth. 
   
• Åkervinda: Spellbound || Sunday 1 March, 3pm & 7pm – All-female Swedish vocal quartet Åkervinda make their Australian debut with a mesmerising reimagining of Scandinavian folk and Nordic melodies. Through intricate harmonies and expressive vocal interpretations, these four women celebrate tales and voices of women across the ages.   
   
• Yasamin Shahhosseini || Sunday 26 April, 3pm – Tehran-based oud maestra, composer and young bearer of ancient tradition, Yasamin Shahhosseini, makes her Australian debut, performing original and traditional Persian radif. Highly regarded for her solo compositions and improvisations, Shahhosseini balances tradition with experimentation, redefining the cultural and musical possibilities of the oud. 
   
• From Prague to Tasmania: Baroque Without Borders || Sunday 10 May, 3pm – Four internationally acclaimed baroque specialists – Czech-based Helena Zemanová and Melbourne-born Julia Fredersdorff on violin, Australian dulcian virtuoso Jane Gower and Danish harpsichord master Lars Ulrik Mortensen – will come together for the first time to perform a theatrical baroque program spanning the mercurial music of Castello, Fontana, Rossi, Ortiz, Schmelzer in this specially formed quartet for Utzon Music. 
   
• Water Song: Sunny Kim’s Ensemble Ochaye || Sunday 7 June, 3pm || The Studio – South Korean–Australian vocalist and composer Sunny Kim and her all-female diasporic collective, Ensemble Ochaye – featuring Aviva Endean (clarinets), Gelareh Pour (kamancheh, vocals), Mindy Meng Wang (guzheng) and Zoë Barry (cello) – present a cross-cultural collaboration in the Studio, celebrating water as a symbol of connection and renewal. Transcending cultural boundaries, Water Song weaves together multicultural narratives and the sounds of Korean, Chinese, Iranian and Western instruments to create an immersive and deeply evocative soundscape.
   
• Maximilian Hornung || Sunday 21 June, 3pm – German cello luminary Maximilian Hornung makes his Sydney solo debut, pairing two of Bach’s beloved cello suites with expressive works by Hans Werner Henze and Caroline Shaw. Regarded as one of the most remarkable cellists of his generation, Hornung is widely praised for his exceptional technical mastery, and depth of tone. 
   
• Harry Ward & Noora Ylönen || Sunday 19 July, 3pm – Sydney-born violinist in the legendary Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Harry Ward returns home with his partner and collaborator, Finnish pianist Noora Ylönen. Performing Shostakovich, Beethoven, a Liza Lim solo written especially for Harry, and an eighteenth-century partita for solo violin by Johann Joseph Vilsmayer. Joining Harry will be special guest Ben Ward on the double bass for a piece co-composed by the siblings. 
   
• Liam Byrne & Laura Vaughan || Sunday 23 August, 3pm – In a first-time collaboration, two esteemed viola da gamba masters, Berlin-based Liam Byrne and Melbourne-based Laura Vaughan, perform exquisite Renaissance works by Sainte-Colombe, Locke, Gibbons and Ferrabosco, alongside two exciting commissions for Utzon Music, world premieres by Australian composers Alice Chance and Brooke Green.
   
• Thomas Dunford || Sunday 6 September, 3pm – French-American lutenist Thomas Dunford is celebrated for his unmistakable sound and profound ability to cast new light on early music. He presents a beguiling solo recital of quintessential Renaissance gems by John Dowland, Giovanni Kapsberger and concludes with Bach’s Chaconne transcribed for the lute. 
   
• Za Górami || Sunday 4 October, 3pm – British vocalist and violinist Alice Zawadzki joins long-term collaborators Fred Thomas (piano, drums) and Misha Mollov-Abbado (double bass) to perform their ECM-released album Za Górami (Behind the Mountains). Described as “a supergroup trio of mesmerising intensity" by London Jazz News, this stylistic realm blurs folk idioms with acoustic jazz in a dazzling fusion of European and Latin American influences. 
   
• Australian Guitar Quartet || Sunday 1 November, 3pm & 7pm – Four of Australia’s most celebrated guitarists – Leonard Grigoryan, Andrew Blanch, Slava Grigoryan and Vladimir Gorbach – form an extraordinary ensemble that combines classical guitar with the flair of contemporary music. Celebrating both tradition and innovation, the program features Astor Piazzolla’s sultry tangos, an arrangement of Bach’s sixth Brandenburg Concerto, and Road to the Sun, an evocative work by legendary American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.

To celebrate Pommery becoming the official Champagne Partner to the Sydney Opera House, audiences attending Utzon Music performances in 2026 can enjoy a complimentary glass of Pommery Brut Royal on arrival.
 

Sydney Opera House thanks Event Partner Champagne Pommery, Idealist donors Ezekiel Solomon AM, Ingrid Kaiser, Sheli Lubowski, Dr Eileen Ong, and Patsy Crummer for their support of Utzon Music.