Japanese musician Ichiko Aoba sits on a wooden floor wearing a long faded green garment over the top of a red one that can only be seen near her feet and hands.

Ichiko Aoba with Taro Umebayashi & Ensemble

  • Contemporary Music
  • Concert Hall
  • Seating map

The spellbinding Japanese world builder returns

She’s among the world’s most hypnotic live performers, able to transport audiences into otherworldly realms of fantasy with the power of her voice alone. Now, following her unforgettable, sold-out performances at Vivid LIVE last year, Japanese singer-songwriter Ichiko Aoba returns to the Sydney Opera House for the Australian leg of her Across The Oceans world tour, playing the Concert Hall with collaborator and co-writer Taro Umebayashi and her string ensemble.

From her early days immersed in Disney and Studio Ghibli soundscapes to her teenage breakthrough Kamisori Otome (2010) and her collaborations with Haruomi Hosono, Brian Eno and Ryuichi Sakamoto, the classically trained Aoba has pursued a sonic dream world as intimate as it is expansive. Recently reissued on vinyl, her critically acclaimed classic Windswept Adan (2020) wedded her whispery voice and delicate playing to lush instrumentation, earning the admiration of her contemporaries with raves from Caroline Polachek, Weyes Blood and Laufey.

Riding the success of her latest masterpiece, the spellbinding Luminescent Creatures (2025), Aoba brings her live show back to Sydney, with multi-instrumentalist, pianist and arranger Taro Umebayashi leading a gorgeous string ensemble in accompaniment.

Here’s your chance to experience one of music’s most enchanting, singular performers.

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Event details

You surrender to Aoba’s fantasy and detach from the chaos of the outside world.

Sydney Morning Herald

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Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Concert Hall

The Concert Hall is located beneath the largest of Sydney Opera House’s roof sails, filling the upper levels of the west side of the building. Best accessed through the covered concourse. 

All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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