Bethan Lillicrap

Bethan Lillicrap joined the cello section of the Opera Australia Orchestra in 2025. She was born in Devon, England and moved to Sydney as a child. Her early musical education was guided by her parents, both of whom are musicians. Bethan obtained her Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium, studying with Andrew Hines and Umberto Clerici. Whilst at the Sydney Conservatorium, Bethan founded a string quartet which won the Westheimer String Quartet Fellowship. This enabled a tour to Europe and the United Kingdom where the quartet participated in the Paris Biennale de quatuor à cordes and received lessons from some of the world’s great quartet musicians. Bethan was a Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellow and subsequently spent some years in Germany, working with ensembles such as the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Kammersinfonie Berlin and the Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin. Whilst in Germany she obtained a Masters of Music from the Hochschule für Musik und Theatre, Rostock, where she studied with Antoaneta Emanuilova, and was a recipient of the ‘ad infinitum’ scholarship. Periods of private study with Mischa Meyer, Pieter Wispelwey and Ikki Opitz have also provided her with much inspiration.

Bethan loves chamber music, and enjoys playing in her piano and cello duo, ‘Duo Lys’, with her father Christian Lillicrap. They have performed in Germany, England and Australia.