Sydney Harbour Bridge New Year’s Eve Pylon Projection

In this special tribute to the Sydney Opera House on its 50th anniversary, we celebrate five decades of storytelling at our beloved World Heritage masterpiece. When it opened in 1973, the building promised a new era of connection as artists, audiences and visitors came together on Bennelong Point. Today, it’s impossible to imagine Australia without the Opera House. Join us as we look back on 50 years of memories that transformed the nation’s busiest performing arts centre into a living work of art.

  1. The official opening of The Sydney Opera House, 1973. From the film The Fifth Facade. Directed by Donald Crombie. The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
  2. Queen Elizabeth II attends the Sydney Opera House opening ceremony, 1973. Photo: Leo Davis Collection / Sydney Opera House Trust
  3. Queen Elizabeth II attends the opening performance of The Magic Flute in the Opera Theatre, 1973. Photo: Leo Davis Collection / Sydney Opera House Trust
  4. Curtain of the Sun tapestry, designed by John Coburn, hanging in the Sydney Opera House Joan Sutherland Theatre. Photo: Jacquie Manning 
  5. Curtain of the Moon tapestry, designed by John Coburn, hanging in the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre. Photo: Jacquie Manning 
  6. Woomera Dancers from Mornington Island Bunbidgee Joseph Watt (front), Henry Peters, Clifford Bush, and Douglas Burke perform in the Recording Hall (now the Studio) during the anniversary weekend, 1974. Photo: R. L. Stevens / The Sydney Morning Herald
  7. Australian comedian Barry Humphries, dressed as his most famous character Dame Edna Everage, modelling a stunning Ascot hat based on the Sydney Opera House, 1976. Photo: Wesley / Getty Images
  8. The acoustic reflectors, affectionately known as the ‘doughnuts’ hanging in the Concert Hall on Open Day 2011. Photo: Jamie Williams
  9. Arnold Schwarzenegger is announced as the winner of Mr. Olympia in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, 1980. Photo: Robert Nailon, The Arnold Collection 1980.
  10. Dame Joan Sutherland cuts an Opera House shaped cake, celebrating 25 years of The Australian Opera, 1981. Photo: Don McMurdo, Sydney Opera House Trust
  11. Richard Bonynge, Dame Joan Sutherland, and Luciano Pavarotti take a bow at the end of a gala benefit concert, 1983. Photo: Don McMurdo, Sydney Opera House Trust
  12. Billy Connolly performs at the Opera House, 1987. Photo: Don McMurdo, Sydney Opera House Trust
  13. Nelson Mandela speaks from the top of the Monumental Steps to a huge crowd of people, 1990. Photo: Don McMurdo, Sydney Opera House Trust
  14. Crowded House farewell concert, Sydney Opera House Forecourt, 1996. Photo: Rick Stevens / The Sydney Morning Herald
  15. Katherine Griffiths and Matthew Shilling in Sydney Dance Company’s Air & Other Invisible Forces, by Graeme Murphy, 1999. Photo: Branco Gaica
  16. The cycling leg of the Women’s Triathlon from the Sydney Opera House during Day One of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, 2000. Photo: Jamie Squire / Allsport / Getty Images
  17. John Bell in Bell Shakespeare’s Richard III, directed by John Bell, 2002. Photo: Tracey Schramm
  18. Tapestry designed by Jorn Utzon for the Utzon Room, inspired by CPE Bach’s Hamburg Symphonies and Raphael’s painting The Procession to Calvary. It was woven by the Victorian Tapestry Workshop, supervised by Lin Utzon, 2004. Photo: Jack Atley
  19. Fans watching Australian Idol on the Opera House Forecourt, 2005. Photo: Jeremy Piper
  20. Jared Holt (Belcore) and Amelia Farrugia (Adina) in Opera Australia’s The Elixir of Love, 2006. Photo: Branco Gaica
  21. Yoko Ono in conversation in the Concert Hall at her first ever appearance on an Australian stage, 2013. Photo: Daniel Boud
  22. Sensorium’s Whoosh! in the Centre for Creativity, 2019. Photo: Prudence Upton 
  23. Paula Arundell and Robert Menzies in Sydney Theatre Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2016, by William Shakespeare, directed by Kip Williams.  Photo: Brett Boardman ©
  24. Paul Kelly performs on the Forecourt as part of the Contemporary Music program, 2017. Photo: Prudence Upton
  25. The contemporary performance À Ố Làng Phố in the Joan Sutherland Theatre blends circus, acrobatics, contemporary dance, and theatrics, 2019. Photo: Anna Kucera
  26. Sydney Opera House lit the Bennelong sail to mark its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2019. Photo: Cassandra Hannagan
  27. Iggy Pop performs in the Concert Hall, 2019. Filmed by the Sydney Opera House’s Recording and Broadcast Studio
  28. ERTH’s Dinosaur Zoo, a realistic puppetry interactive hands-on theatre experience in the Studio, 2019. Presented in partnership with Erth Visual & Physical Inc.
  29. Jannawi Dance Clan on the shells of the Opera House as part of DanceRites, 2019. Photo: Daniel Boud
  30. International music icon, Lizzo, performs in the Concert Hall, 2020. Photo: Prudence Upton
  31. Solange performs in the Concert Hall, 2020. Photo: Daniel Boud
  32. The dancers Rina Nemoto and Isobelle Dashwood perform in The Australian Ballet’s Raymonda, choreography by Marius Petipa, costumes by Hugh Colman, 2021. Photo: Pierre Toussaint
  33. Australian Chamber Orchestra in Love & Transfiguration, 2021. Directors of Photography: Tyson Perkins & Drew English
  34. Courtney Radford in Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Terrain, Deluge, 2022. Photo: Daniel Boud
  35. Matthew Doyle leads children and families into the new Centre for Creativity – a purpose-built home for hands-on creative experiences, 2022. Photo: Cassandra Hannagan
  36. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, conducted by Simone Young, perform in the newly reopened Concert Hall, following two years of extensive upgrades, 2022. Photo: Daniel Boud
  37. Lighting of the Sails: Life Enlivened spotlights the career of artist Dr John Olsen, AO OBE, through images selected by curator Dr Deborah Hart and animated by creative technologists Curiious, 2023, Photo: Daniel Boud
  38. The seagulls were part of the roving performers during the culmination of the 50th Birthday Festival, the Open House Weekend, Icarus Productions, 2023. Photo: Daniel Boud
  39. What Is the City but the People? took over the Forecourt as the opening event of the 50th Birthday Festival. From an idea by Jeremy Deller, directed by Richard Gregory, the people of Sydney walked a catwalk backed by live music, large scale projected photographs and text. Shown here is Chrissy Flannagan, 2023. Photo: Ken Leanfore
  40. The Sydney Opera House Mardi Gras float, 2023. Photo: Tracy Askew
  41. Part rock opera, part reimagined pride parade, the epic production Bark of Millions, celebrates the queer canon, with original songs for each year since the Stonewall uprising, by Taylor Mac and Matt Ray, 2023. Photo: Daniel Boud
  42. Australian Girls Choir performing as part of community choirs event From The Steps: Voices at Dusk, curated by Brett Weymark, Sydney Philharmonia Choir, 2022. Photo: Belinda Dipalo