22 & 23 June 2026
Silk Street Lecture Recital Room
Guildhall Harp Festival 2026
Meet the Ancestors!
A Hands-On Workshop with Ancient Greek Lyres
All the way from Greece, we are delighted to welcome Lina Palera and Theodorus Koumartzis from the Seikilo Culture Organisation, who will guide us in the playing of authentic replicas of the harp’s ancient ancestors.
Monday 22 June 2026
11.30am – 12.30pm
Forgotten Roads: A Journey Through Music with Joy Smith
Come and listen to musical treasures of the past, brought to life on historical harps.
Guildhall Professor of Historical Harps, Joy Smith, takes on the role of a modern-day troubadour, combining performance and storytelling to reveal the worlds behind the music. Each piece is rooted in its time – songs of love, loss, devotion, and defiance – once heard in courts, chapels, and beyond. From haunting laments to lively dances, Forgotten Roads traces the paths these melodies have travelled, and returns them to the present.
“So improvisatory and spontaneous. Very very exciting.” (Sean Rafferty, BBC Radio 3)
Monday 22 June 2026
1pm – 1.45pm
Joy Smith
Born in Cornwall, Joy first met a harp when she was six years old. When, aged eight, she inherited that very same instrument, it felt as if the harp had chosen her rather than the other way round. That very first chance meeting led her to travel the world with seven different harps and become an explorer of music and sound of all kinds. She is renowned for her thorough and exciting approach, creating programmes and performing music in the style and on the instruments they were intended for, from medieval to 21st century.
Her eclectic taste in music has led her to play in an unusual array of venues from the Royal Albert Hall to the Glastonbury Festival and with groups such as I Fagiolini, The Gabrieli Consort, The Sixteen, the Rednote Ensemble and the New London Consort; the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, The OAE, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Opera North; the Radio Science Orchestra, David Gray, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Paul Hartnoll and The Joy Formidable. She has performed as a soloist at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Real Madrid and Glyndebourne Opera. Joy is a storyteller, composer and percussionist. She enjoys learning the historically-informed rules and then deciding when to break them.
Echoes of Antiquity: Music for the Ancient Greek Lyre
Monday 22 June 2026
2.15pm – 3.15pm
An evocative journey into the sound world of ancient Greece, this recital brings to life reconstructed musical pieces and new compositions on authentic replicas of ancient Greek lyres reconstructed by the LUTHIEROS Music instruments workshop, exploring their timbral richness, expressive range and historical context.
Lina Palera | ancient lyre of Olympus
Theodoros Koumartzis | ancient lyre of Orpheus
Programme to include:
Seikilos Epitaph (ancient Greek song)
Delphic Hymn (selected excerpts)
Traditional Greek melodies: Menexes kai Zoumpoulia, Apano sti Trandafillia and Thalassaki
Compositions from the first two albums by Lina Palera and the Pausis album
Britten's Harp: A
guided tour of Britten's harp writing in words and music
Monday 22 June 2026
3.45pm – 4.30pm
Benjamin Britten featured the harp in works written throughout his life, from the juvenile Quatre Chansons Françaises through to the harp and tenor duets written in the last years of his life for his partner Peter Pears and the Welsh harpist Osian Ellis. Fifty years on from his death, Britten’s contributions to the harp repertoire, such as the Ceremony of Carols and the solo Suite, remain a core part of the harp canon, and his collaboration with Ellis – the long-time harpist of the English Opera Group – redefined the instrument for the 20th century.
In this guided tour of Britten’s harp writing we will hear some of his best-loved works for harp and the stories behind their creation. Curated by Eleanor Medcalf.
Programme:
‘Interlude’ from Ceremony of Carols Op 28
Eleanor Medcalf | harp
Three Folksong Arrangements (1976):
I. Lord! I married me a wife
II. She’s like the swallow
III. Lemady
Arwen Withey-Harrison | harp
Matilda Dawes | soprano
Suite for Harp, Op 83
I. Overture
II. Toccata
III.Nocturne
IV. Fugue
V. Hymn (St. Denio)
Emily Hopper | harp (mvts I, II & V)
Ellie Wood | harp (mvts III & IV)
A Birthday Hansel Op 92
V. Afton Water
VI. The Winter
VII. Leezie Lindsay
Eleanor Medcalf | harp
Susan Gritton | soprano
Contemporary Music for Harp
Monday 22 June 2026
4.45pm – 5.15pm
Thea Musgrave
Sunrise
Eleanor Medcalf | harp
Tamsin Reed | flute
Rebekah Dickinson | viola
Mick Foster
Duskfall (world premiere)
The Yavara Duo:
Justyna Szynkarczyk | flute
Emilia Agajew | harp
Edward McGuire
Prelude No 10
Emily Hopper | harp
Benji Gronlie
Reverie (world premiere)
Arwen Withey-Harrison | harp
Belle Brunson | flute
Annie Walton | cello
Celebrity lecture-recital with Sioned Williams:
A Soirée with Mr Thomas
Celebrating the 200th birthday of John Thomas (1826–1913), harpist to Queen Victoria
Sponsored by Salvi Harps London
The illuminating, lively story of ‘Pencerdd Gwalia’ in words and harp solos, with original works by Thomas and Blind John Parry, and arrangements by Thomas of Mendelssohn, Rossini and Schubert
Accompanied by a select, rare exhibition of original signed music, books, documents, letters and photos, the story of this most celebrated Royal Harpist is informative, poignant, curious, unexpected and funny. Sioned’s historically researched presentation brings John Thomas to life as a composer, arranger, solo harpist travelling across Europe, duo player and accompanist, orchestral harpist, teacher, leader of massed harp concerts with voices; important collector of Welsh music, author, family man and truly dedicated Welshman.
Monday 22 June 2026
6.30pm
Sioned Williams
The renowned creative Welsh harpist Sioned Williams performs wide-ranging programmes as soloist, narrator and script-writer, sharing her passion as a researcher. She has commissioned and performed a vast array of new music, and has many commercial recordings to her name, in partnership with outstanding instrumentalists, singers, and choirs. As former Principal Harpist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for 28 years, Sioned has worked with many respected conductors and composers in premieres and broadcasts; she pioneered integrated harp courses in Britain at Trinity College of Music; was President of the UKHA for 14 years; and first Welsh board member of the World Harp Congress. Sioned is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music, and Patron of the NYCO.
Mock Orchestral Auditions for Guildhall Harp Students
Mock orchestral audition for Guildhall harp students with Heidi Krutzen, Principal Harp with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Guildhall harpists will be put through their paces with a two-round mock audition, replicating a professional scenario with the first round behind screens.
One successful harpist will be chosen from each of two age groups.
Tuesday 23 June 2026
10am – 4pm
Heidi Krutzen
Heidi Krutzen’s ‘captivating’, ‘ravishingly colored’, ‘emotionally touching’ harp playing has moved audiences from New York to Tokyo. She is celebrated for her versatility as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher and orchestral performer. As Principal Harp of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, she has enjoyed performing in the world’s great concert halls, from Shanghai to Berlin, under the direction of exceptional maestros. Noted as “deeply connected to the moment of creation”, Heidi’s performances are informed by her desire to connect with the audience through the transformative power of music.
A passionate advocate of collaboration and new music. She is a member of several acclaimed chamber groups: COULOIR with cellist Ari Barnes; Trio Verlaine with flutist Lorna McGhee and violist David Harding; Krutzen/McGhee Duo and the Turning Point Ensemble. With these groups, she has toured extensively throughout North America, concertized in the UK and created several recordings including Maxwell, Muhly, Couloir which garnered Artist of the Year at the 2016 Western Canadian Music Awards, and Trio Verlaine’s Six Departures which was selected for the first-round ballot of the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. And many of her performances have been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, NPR and CBC Radio.
Heidi has also appeared as guest principal harpist with numerous orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center (USA), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (UK), the London Symphony Orchestra (UK), the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Other career highlights include touring to Taiwan with the Formosa Quartet, performing with Trio Verlaine at the Edinburgh International Festival, recording Mark Armanini’s double concerto with the Latvian National Symphony, performances of Debussy’s Danse sacrée et profane and Kelly-Marie Murphy’s double concerto with COULOIR and the Vancouver Symphony, and subsequent performances of the double concerto with Sinfonia Varsovia (Warsaw) and Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Prague). A return guest at major festivals such as the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Heidi was also Principal Harp of Vancouver Opera for 20 years.
Dedicated to bringing her instrument into the forefront of 21st century music, she has commissioned 21 works thus far, championing Canada’s preeminent composers, and premiered nearly 100 more. She is also a committed educator, sharing her love for her instrument with students from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Royal Conservatory of Music, Royal Academy of Music, National Youth Orchestra Canada, the University of British Columbia, and in masterclasses throughout the US, Taiwan and the UK.
Amidst her full schedule, Heidi also prioritizes stewardship of her musical organizations, co-running the Philharmonia Chamber Players Series, and as a member of the Philharmonia Artistic Committee. A dedicated humanitarian, her charity Malambo Grassroots tun by small group of women, focuses on community development in southern Zambia, and also runs a scholarship and musical instrument donation program at the Ngoma Dolce Music Academy in Lusaka.
Forthcoming Events
Clarinet and Bassoon Concert
23 June 2026
Silk Street Music Hall
Curated by Kathryn Titcomb and Thaïs Bordes this concert showcases the rich tonal palette of the clarinet and bassoon families in chamber and larger ensemble settings.
Percussion Ensemble: Impact/Reflection
24 June 2026
Silk Street Music Hall
Curated and led by Engin Eskici, Guildhall’s percussion students present Impact/Reflection, a programme exploring rhythm, texture and collective energy across contemporary and modern works.
Piccolo Concert
26 June 2026
Silk Street Music Hall
Directed by Sarah Newbold, this concert celebrates the brilliance and versatility of the piccolo.
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Photo © David Monteith-Hodge
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Founded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation
Chair of the Board of Governors
The Hon. Emily Benn
Principal
Professor Jonathan Vaughan FGS
Vice-Principal & Director of Music
Armin Zanner FGS
Contact Us
Silk Street,
Barbican,
London,
EC2Y 8DT
+44 (0)207 628 2571
Guildhall School is provided by the City of London as part of its contribution to the cultural life of London and the nation.
For assistance with digital programmes, please contact digitalprogrammes@gsmd.ac.uk
