St Ann's Church is delighted to welcome three distinguished musicians from Sydney Conservatium of Music bringing together a unique ensemble bridging culture and time.

Lu Liu, Alex Chilvers and Anthony Abouhamad are the Barktin Band, a unique ensemble of Harpsichord, Chinese Pipa and Bass Guitar, performing traditional and contemporary pieces.

Thomas Charles Marshall will join them in a new composition for Pipa, Biwa and Bass Guitar, composed by Alex Chilvers.

This event has been funded by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Liu Lu 刘璐 (also known as Lulu Liu) is a performer, researcher and educator. Her main focus is Chinese musical culture, specializing in the music and history of thepipa. Career highlights include performing for an audience of 7000 at the ‘World Peace’ Outdoor Festival in South Korea, and featuring on the long-running BBC Radio Program ‘On the Wire’. Lulu was invited to perform in the first production of ‘Play me a story: Nutcracker’ at the Sydney Opera House in 2014, as well as re-run performances at music festivals in Victoria in 2015, New South Wales in 2016, and a Sydney Opera House season in 2017. Her recent performances include “Road of Sonic Voyage” (with pipa virtuoso Professor Zhang Qiang from the Central Conservatory of Music, China) (2019), “Hectic Jacaranda” with colleagues from Sydney Conservatorium of Music at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou, China (2019). In 2022, she was invited to performing pipa in the world premiere “The Butterfly Lovers” with Victorian Opera and Singapore’s Wild Rice Theatre. She has released two solo albums, three collaborative albums and also performed on the soundtrack to the movie ‘Mao’s Last Dancer’. As a researcher, her works have published by Asian Musicology, Routledge and Cambridge University Press.She has contributed a growing number of articles and chapters in journals and books while continuing to perform new pipa works by contemporary composers.

Alex Chilvers

Alex Chilvers is a composer, teacher, and researcher specialising in music perception and intercultural engagement. His 2019 PhD thesis, “A Portfolio of Compositions in Response to a Study of the Aesthetic Function of Folklore in Modern Polish Music,” was completed under the supervision of Associate Professor Michael Smetanin and Dr Christopher Coady.

Mr Anthony Abouhamad

Anthony performs on a wide variety of historical keyboard instruments from the eighteenth century including the harpsichord, organ, fortepiano and clavichord. He earned his PhD at the University of Sydney in the study of historical performance practices. Building an awareness of music’s cultural context is central to his attitude towards music making.

Thomas Ranjo

Thomas Charles Marshall is a musician based in County Westmeath, Ireland, whose performance career bridges the worlds of European and Japanese musical traditions.

He began his musical training on piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, and later studied organ at St Finian’s College, Mullingar, under Shane Brennan, as a member of the Schola Cantorum. He was appointed organ scholar of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he studied with the renowned organist Peter Hurford.

From 1994 to 2008, Marshall lived in Japan, undertaking extensive research into traditional Japanese music. He studied Satsumabiwa—the historical lute of the samurai—under Master Yoshinori Fumon and was awarded the biwa name “Ranjo” in 1999. He has since performed and lectured internationally, with appearances at SOAS University of London, Columbia University (New York), the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), the University of Southern California, as well as in France, Denmark, Italy, Korea, and Australia.

Upon returning to Ireland, he resumed his work as an organist and completed a Master’s degree in Music Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, studying with David Adams. He is currently Organist and Director of Music at St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street, Dublin, and Director of Music at St Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare.

Marshall remains active as a recitalist throughout Ireland, appearing regularly at venues such as the Dún Laoghaire Organ Concert Series and the Tullamore International Summer Organ Series. His recent collaborations include performances with violinist Bogdan Şofei (leader of the ConTempo Quartet), countertenor Francesco Giusti, and Baroque cellist Norah O’Leary. He has also given solo organ performances in Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, and Japan.

In parallel with his organ career, Marshall continues to perform and research Satsumabiwa. In July 2025, he was invited to perform at the Irish Embassy in Tokyo on the occasion of the Seamus Heaney Prize being awarded to poet Sinéad Morrissey. In October–November 2025, he will return to Japan for a concert tour with Irish harpist Tríona Marshall, presenting a programme exploring the resonances between Japanese and Irish musical traditions. He recently presented his research on Meiji-era biwa songbooks at the SEAA–SNU Anthropology 2025 Conference in Seoul, South Korea.