Guildhall School Harp Department

Just under 1 week to go until our 2026 Summer Harp Festival, who is coming along?
All events are free but please send us a message if you would like to come to the Lyre workshop. The recital by Sioned Williams is fully booked.

Our Harp Festival Monday lunchtime concert is FORGOTTEN ROADS - A Journey Through Music and Story with Joy Smith (historical harps).
Come and listen to musical treasures of the past, brought to life on historical harps.
GSMD 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
Free entry!

Guildhall Harp Festival 2026
The 2026 festival opens with a chance to meet the ancestors in 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. You can come along and join in! There is no cost for this workshop but please email [email protected] to book a place.

Next week, our head of harp Imogen Barford will be visiting Stephen Fitzpatrick’s class at the Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria for Stephen Fitzpatrick’s class for a masterclass and classes on memorising and virtuosity.

Come and listen to Ellie, Eleanor, Emily and Bibi this Friday from 3.45pm in Milton Court concert hall. They will be sharing the culmination of their Masters degree study in their final recitals. And then on Monday at 10am, join us for Arwen’s final BMus recital in the Silk Street concert hall.

Join us for the 2026 Guildhall Harp Festival on the 22nd and 23rd June, a two-day celebration of the harp across history, culture and contemporary music making.
From the ancient Greek lyre to contemporary chamber premieres, the festival brings together internationally renowned performers, scholars and Guildhall musicians for an inspiring series of concerts, workshops, talks and performances.
Highlights include:
• A hands-on workshop with reconstructed ancient Greek lyres
• Historical harp storytelling with Joy Smith
• A celebration of Benjamin Britten
• Contemporary works and a world première
• A special celebrity lecture-recital with Sioned Williams celebrating the 200th anniversary of Royal Harpist John Thomas
• A live mock orchestral audition led by Heidi Krutzen, Principal Harp of the Philharmonia Orchestra
All events are free to attend.
Some events have limited capacity-please email [email protected] to reserve a place at the hands-on lyre workshop and the recital from Sioned Williams.

We are performing a free lunchtime concert in the heart of the City of London next Thursday at 1pm. Come and join us, we would love to perform for you!