Revolting Women - August '26

Cantwara is a new and exciting Harp and Voice duo. Matilda and Arwen are childhood friends from Kent and they formed this chamber group nearly a year ago. This is their London debut.

Join them as they explore the unique and mesmerising music for this rare pairing as they take us through the folk and classical stories that have inspired so many.

Matilda Dawes is a young local Soprano and Choral Conductor. Since graduating with a first from Trinity Laban Conservatoire in 2025 Matilda has founded the Verdier Trio – for voice, flute and piano and Cantwara – a Harp and Voice duo who will be performing soon at Guildhall’s Britten Harp Festival. She is the resident musician at the Space Theatre where she produces her own concert series Revolting Women – the words and music of women in revolt! Alongside a busy performing and teaching career Matilda conducts Greenwich Carers Voices and works with the London Youth Choir Cambiata Boys as their assistant leader.

This summer she has assisted Sarah Latto at the Stour Music Festival in Kent. She will be training with Amy Bebbington t the Sherborne Choral Conducting Summer School, and assisting at Piggots Young Voices as a vocal coach. Matilda studies under Yolanda Grant Thompson and Anna Boucher and will travel to Germany next year to study at the Academy of Early Music. When not in London she enjoys singing for concerts and festivals with community choirs around her home county of Kent and runs vocal technique workshops for amateur singing groups. (@matilda.dawes_music)

Arwen Withey-Harrison has just finished her undergraduate degree as a harpist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying as a scholar under Keziah Thomas. A keen soloist, orchestral and chamber musician, she has performed in Barbican Concert Hall, Cadogan Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, and Westminster Abbey amongst others. Arwen regularly performs in Kent with her harp and voice duo, Cantwara, as well as her harp flute and cello group, Trio Banwen, who recently won the Platinum award in the International Couperin Competition. She has won solo prizes in competitions, including the North London Festival and Mid-Somerset Festival, and was a finalist in Junior Guildhall’s prestigious Lutine Prize. Arwen regularly works with contemporary artists, having recently performed with the acclaimed jazz-electronia duo Snowpoet, Hayden Thorpe of Wild Beasts and with the Instant Dubsorchestra at Latitude Festival this summer. Since last November Arwen has been performing with the ‘In The Dark’ collective in London, bringing together her love of harp and voice. They will embark on a UK tour from November to March. (@Arwen_harpist)

@cantwara_duo