Skip to main content

Utzon Music 2025 Marshall McGuire & Simon Martyn-Ellis

6 April 2025

In the Utzon Room

Classical Music

A rare chance to hear two exquisite instruments, beautifully played — Marshall McGuire (harp) and Simon Martyn-Ellis (theorbo) in solos and duos, old and new, by Froberger, Leonarda, Glanville-Hicks, Lim, Kapsberger, Chance, Castaldi.

McGuire proved capable of creating spaces where soft sounds become magical.

The Independent London

Useful information:

An afternoon of otherworldly resonances

Harps and lutes — in their many forms — have long been associated with Arcadia.  Played by angels in frescos and nobility in bedchambers, fabled in verse and immortalised in manuscripts, this concert extols two of Western music’s most poetic instruments.  Illustrious musicians Marshall McGuire and Simon Martyn-Ellis collaborate for the first time, creating a program dancing elegantly between classic baroque repertoire and urbane contemporary works written for harp and theorbo.  Duets and solos by seventeenth-century maestros Johann Jacob Froberger, Bellerofonte Castaldi, Isabella Leonarda and Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger are interlaced between works by contemporary composers who share a love for these fine sonorities: Alice Chance, Liza Lim, Mike Marshall and Stephen Goss. This an uncommon opportunity to discover just how sumptuous these instruments are.

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Book early and save up to 25%

Save 20% when booking two Utzon Music concerts or 25% when booking three or more.

Early bird offer ends Monday 16 December 2025 11:59pm.

Book Utzon Music Multipacks

Artist Information

Marshall McGuire
harp  

Simon Martyn-Ellis
theorbo 

Program

Bellerofonte Castaldi Cappriccio detto cerimonioso

Isabella Leonarda Sonata duodecima

Stephen Goss The Miller’s Tale

Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger Tocata prima
Alice Chance Old Ground

Peggy Glanville-Hicks Pastorale from Sonata for Harp
Liza Lim Rug Music
Johann Jacob Froberger Lamentation

Mike Marshall Dec. 29th
Bellerofonte Castaldi Capriccio detto bischizzoso

Plan your visit

You may also like

Catriona Morison & Aura Go

16 Mar 2025

Scottish mezzo-soprano and Cardiff Singer of the World Catriona Morison collaborates with Utzon favourite Aura Go in an eloquent duo.

  • Classical Music

Bronzewing

18 May 2025

Australian performer-composers Katie Yap and Donald Nicolson entwine early music gems and lyrical new compositions for the poetic combination of viola and harpsichord.

  • Classical Music

Norwegian Tradition Reimagined

23 Nov 2025

A rare chance to hear a Norwegian supergroup fusing traditional music and contemporary evocations of the north.

  • Classical Music

Checking availability