A collage of musicians featuring a woman in green playing a stringed instrument, a man in traditional attire holding flutes, and a smiling group of four elegantly dressed people.

Utzon Music 2026 The Edge of Zen

  • Classical Music
  • Utzon Room

Ancient Japanese instruments meet the Western string quartet

This is a concert to reflect and recharge. 

Shakuhachi grandmaster Riley Lee joins koto grandmaster Satsuki Odamura in a landmark cross-cultural performance with the Chroma Quartet. Lee was the first non-Japanese person to attain the grandmaster rank on the bamboo flute, the shakuhachi, while Odamura has pioneered the performance and teaching of the koto in Australia following her relocation from Japan. The adventurous Chroma Quartet, which formed in 2020, comprises four of the most exciting young musicians in Australia. 

With a diverse program spanning music by Japanese koto master Michio Miyagi to Australian composers Ross Edwards, Anne Boyd and Lachlan Skipworth, alongside Debussy’s classic String Quartet, this collaboration – assembled for the intimacy of the Utzon Room – celebrates the historical legacy of creative exchange between Japanese and Western music. 

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

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Event details

The shakuhachi is both hypnotic and spiritually soothing.

Sydney Arts Guide

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Attending this event

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

Utzon Room

The Utzon Room is located on the Eastern side of the Opera House, in front of the Joan Sutherland Theatre. Best accessed through the Box Office Foyer or 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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