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Paul Kelly on stage on the Forecourt playing to a full crowd at night, with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the background.
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Transcendence: 50 Years of Unforgettable Moments

We cherish our memories of visiting the Sydney Opera House, whether that’s catching your favourite artist or being amazed by the stories told on stage. But what about the artists’ memories?

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Meet Winifred Atwell, the first woman to play the Opera House

Legendary pianist Winifred Atwell was the (incomplete) stage's premiere act

Joan Sutherland Theatre
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The work that makes magic: Renewing the Joan Sutherland Theatre

One of the world’s great performance venues, the Joan Sutherland Theatre is being renewed for the next generation of artists and audiences.

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Interesting facts about Sydney Opera House

Find out 15 interesting facts about the Sydney Opera House that you never knew.

The famous architect of Sydney opera house Jorn Utzon.
House History Jorn Utzon
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Jørn Utzon AC

His mastery in fusing craft traditions and ancient architecture with modernist thinking infused his designs for the Sydney Opera House.

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Construction begins

On 2 March 1959, a crowd gathered under umbrellas, in the rain, to watch the ceremony that marked the start of construction of the Sydney Opera House.

spherical solution
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The spherical solution

Jørn Utzon’s realisation that the form of the Sydney Opera House could be derived from the surface of a sphere marked a milestone in 20th century architecture.

utzon resigns
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Utzon departs the House

As the sails took shape, Bennelong Point became a battle ground of politics, pragmatism and the quest for perfection.

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Peter Hall and the completion of the Opera House

Peter Hall was one of Australia’s brightest young architects at the time he took up the daunting role of design architect to complete Stage Three of Sydney’s new Opera House.

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50 years of extraordinary moments

From Ella Fitzgerald to Bon Iver, Dance Rites Festival to Nelson Mandela’s address from the steps, the Opera House and the extraordinary experiences on our stages reflect our contemporary culture.

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Decade of Renewal

As we open up the Opera House to more of the community, the Decade of Renewal has helped us live up to the promise of the building itself.

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Conserving and celebrating our heritage

We are transforming the building for future generations while respecting and preserving the very features that make it unique.

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Fine-tuning the acoustics of the Joan Sutherland Theatre

What makes a concert sound good? Here's how our acousticians did it.

Image: Sam Doust
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Tubowgule

Ever since it was a place for ceremony, gathering and celebration in Aboriginal Australia, Tubowgule has always reflected the society tucked in around Sydney Cove.

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Preserving the Grand Organ

Each of the 10,244 pipes will be cleaned by hand – it's a tricky job.

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Beijing through the eyes of Jørn Utzon

A film made by the architect of the Opera House en route to Sydney has, until now, never been publicly seen. Lin Utzon recalls the influence and inspiration her father drew from Chinese architecture.

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How can we solve the problems of the future?

Sydney Opera House BUILD is a new three-part program with the aim of creating a better world through the built environment. Earlier this month, the pilot Tertiary Built Environment Creative Lab saw students from Western Sydney University tackle a future-facing design challenge by collaborating in interdisciplinary teams. Student Emma Moore writes about what she learnt about herself and the Opera House.

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How MADE students are proposing to revitalise the Sydney Opera House

The Australian-Danish exchange program imagines what a future icon might look like.

Man spraying aerosol into a microphone on stage.
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Playing to an empty House

The halls might be closed, but a newly built virtual stage is broadcasting shows from inside the Sydney Opera House

A collage of different images.
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House of Wonder

Sam Doust, Google Arts & Culture curator, reveals his favourite stories from behind the curtain.

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Work begins to transform Concert Hall for new era

Better sound, better access and more ambitious performances will be enabled by a $150 million upgrade and renovations.

New rectangular holes have been added to the ceiling above the stage to allow for the installation of banners and curtains to dampen reverberation and improve the sound for amplified music, image: Chris Bennett
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In it for the long Hall

The Opera House’s biggest venue has been closed for two years, yet behind its shuttered doors the beat goes on. The hum of thousands of excited concert-goers has been replaced with the buzz of thousands of workers, busy future-proofing the venue for decades to come.

Person holding up a light in front of an empty theatre.
Ghost lights illuminate an empty Joan Sutherland Theatre, 2020.
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Keeping the ghost lights shining

“It’s about saying: we haven’t gone forever, we’re coming back and we’re going to leave the lights on to show you that.”

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Why I love LEGO

He's the host of LEGO Masters, the only Lego Certified Professional in Australia, and he's constructed the Opera House more than any other building in the world. As we celebrate his latest work – Christmas baubles on the Forecourt – The Brickman reflects on why he loves what he does.

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Zindzi Okenyo tells House Stories

From audience member to performer to podcast host, Zindzi Okenyo has a unique connection with the Sydney Opera House. She shares her relationship with the building, and what it was like to see the Concert Hall emptied out and reinvented up-close for the new season of House Stories.

A man sat on the floor moving structural objects around.
Jørn Utzon with his architectural models. Image: The Utzon Archives / Utzon Center
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How Mexico, Iran and China shaped Utzon’s Opera House

In April 2018, the Utzon Center presented Horisont: an evocative exhibition in celebration of Jørn Utzon AC and the poetic, humane layers of his life’s work coloured by his immersive travel studies of foreign landscapes, people and cultures.

Birds eye view of Concert hall in Sydney opera house.
Acoustics Inline and Hero
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Testing the Concert Hall’s acoustic reflectors

Work is underway to make the Opera House sound as good as it looks. Meet the acousticians solving a 40 year-old problem.