X-Nico

16 unusual facts about Sydney Opera House


Adam Heuskes

Also known for his flamboyant style, two notable haircuts included the image of the Sydney Opera House shaved into the back of his head, as well as his guernsey number (39).

Black Dyke Band

In August 2009, the band undertook a tour of Australia with multi-instrumentalist James Morrison which culminated in a concert at the Sydney Opera House.

Grange Hill, County Durham

The town is known for its scale model of the Sydney Opera House, erected by an unknown Australian, who lived in the village for just under a year.

Henry Bracy

After a season at the Sydney Opera House and touring in operettas, the Bracys joined the J. C. Williamson organization, in which he was employed until 1914 as a performer, stage manager, stage director and casting agent.

Improbable theatre

Improbable's latest show, Panic is a co-production with the Barbican Center, London, and the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio and the Sydney Opera House.

Lawson Square Infirmary

The performances were recorded in a couple of takes live to stereo at the Sydney Opera House shortly before the Triffids relocated to London.

Manchester Oxford Road railway station

This was designed in a distinctive style in concrete and wood with curves bringing to mind the Sydney Opera House.

Pam Rhodes

She is an after dinner speaker and conference host, and has compered televised recordings in venues such as Sydney Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall in London, is now often asked to compere large orchestral or musical events at symphony halls and theatres around the country.

Ploypailin Jensen

As a young pianist, she has given performances around the world, including at the Sydney Opera House, and other venues in Europe and Japan.

Povl Ahm

The architect of Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon, later went on to design a house for Ahm in Hertfordshire - a project which avoided the many problems of Sydney Opera House.

He also worked on early conceptual design schemes for the Sydney Opera House, and worked on other projects, including Smithfield Market, London and Centre Pompidou, Paris – some of Ove Arup & Partners' most prestigious projects.

Schizomeria ovata

The timber was notably used as an interior finish in the Sydney Opera House.

The Consolation of Philosophy

The Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe quoted parts of it in his opera or music theatre work Rites of Passage (1972–73), which was commissioned for the opening of the Sydney Opera House but was not ready in time.

Tikhon Khrennikov

The Composers' Union also refused Lina Prokofieva permission to go to the opening of the Sydney Opera House.

Wuxi Grand Theatre

The manmade peninsula on the northern shore area of Taihu Lake and the highway bridge nearby make this location comparable to that of Sydney Opera House.

Yasuhisa Toyota

As of late 2006, his works in progress included the Shenzhen Cultural Center Concert Hall for the People's Republic of China, Finland's Helsinki Music Center, the Danish Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg and the renovation of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.


Amanda Muggleton

Out of Marvellous Party! came Darling It's Noel, produced by International Concert Attractions and directed by Rodney Fisher at the Sydney Opera House in May 2004 and at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth in June 2004.

Ambre Hammond

Lalo Schifrin, a renowned Hollywood film score writer has composed a double concerto for Ambre Hammond and trumpeter James Morrison which was premiered on 19 July 2007 at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony; the concert was later broadcast on ABC Television.

Andrea Molino

As a conductor, he opened the 2013 season of Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House with Verdi's A Masked Ball with the direction of La Fura dels Baus; the production was later presented in Melbourne.

Australia's First Families of Wine

It was officially launched at the Sydney Opera House on 31 August 2009 by former Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre

Professor Bashir commented that the complex takes your breath away and Tony Windsor, Independent MP for New England, stated that AELEC could be compared to the Sydney Opera House.

Berliner Philharmonie

The so-called vineyard-style seating arrangement (with terraces rising around a central orchestral platform) was pioneered by this building, and became a model for other concert halls, including the Sydney Opera House (1973), Denver's Boettcher Concert Hall (1978), the Gewandhaus in Leipzig (1981), Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (2003), and the Philharmonie de Paris (under construction).

Bill and Ruth Lucas

Between 1955-57 Bill Lucas and Ruth Harvey worked with Neville Gruzman and Tony Moore where they lobbied for the design competition for the Sydney Opera House.

Box the Pony

It has played at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre, the Sydney Opera House, the 1999 Edinburgh Festival and in 2000 at the Barbican in London.

Europa Galante

The ensemble has been invited to play at important festivals and concert halls and has performed at La Scala in Milan, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, Lincoln Center in New York, the Sydney Opera House, and at Kraków Philharmonic.

Farewell to the World

The concert was recorded on the outside footsteps of the famed Sydney Opera House as a charity event to raise funds for the Sydney Children's Hospital.

Goin' Your Way

Goin' Your Way was recorded on 10 March 2013 at the Sydney Opera House by Neil Finn and Paul Kelly.

Goin' Your Way is a live album collaboration recorded by Neil Finn and Paul Kelly during a performance at the Sydney Opera House on 10 March 2013.

Håkan Hagegård

Hagegård studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and has performed on stages around the world, including Carnegie Hall, the London Royal Opera House, La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, the Sydney Opera House, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna State Opera (Così fan tutte conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt), and the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.

Helpmann Awards

Star City has provided venues for seven ceremonies, at the Lyric Theatre and Star City Show Room, but from 2009 they have stayed at the Sydney Opera House.

Jimeoin: Over The Top

The series features Jimeoin touring across the top of Australia, as well as special performances at the iconic Sydney Opera House, the Famous Spiegeltent, Jimeoin's Cooking Show filmed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and a special episode in New Zealand.

Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg

Singers who have started in Rheinsberg can be heard at the New York Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Salzburg Festival, other various international opera houses such as Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, Tokyo Opera House, Vienna State Opera, Sydney Opera House, Zürich Opera House and most German opera houses.

Knights of the Underground Table

Throughout the album, the group make various references to Sydney landmarks (such as the Sydney Opera House) and areas such as Penrith, Parramatta, Mount Druitt and St. Marys of Western Sydney.

Meryl Tankard

2002 = Merryland, for Netherlands Dance Theatre 3; 2003 Wild Swans, commission from the Australian Ballet and the Sydney Opera House, a full length work based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy story to a commissioned score by Elena Kats-Chernin ;

Norman Ayrton

Two years later, he directed his first production at the Sydney Opera House with Lakmé.

Olivia's Live Hits

Olivia's Live Hits is a live album released in 2008, based on the tour of Olivia Newton-John in Sydney Opera House in 2006.

Operatunity Oz

Operatunity Oz was a 2006 talent search, and accompanying four-part television documentary by Simon Target, in which Opera Australia conducted a nationwide search to find someone in Australia without professional opera experience, who could be coached to sing in a staged operaVerdi's Rigoletto in the event — on the stage of the Sydney Opera House in the company of professional performers, as part of Opera Australia's regular season.

Pandemonium: the Lost and Found Orchestra

It was initially commissioned for the 2006 Brighton Festival, which was celebrating its 40th anniversary, re-appeared at the Sydney Festival in the Sydney Opera House the following year.

Peter Thomas Dunican

He also worked on many of the firms most iconic projects, including the Sydney Opera House, Coventry Cathedral, Centre Pompidou, the Barbican Estate and others.

Romola Costantino

Romola Costantino gave the first solo piano recital in the Sydney Opera House (10 April 1973; to an invited audience), and she participated in the first public performance in the Opera House's Music Room (with the Carl Pini Quartet and Walter Sutcliffe, under the auspices of Musica Viva Australia).

Scatty Safari

The Goodies' arrival in Australia is marked by photos of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge — also seen are a kangaroo, koalas and kookaburras.

Virginia Gentlemen

Additionally, the group has performed in recent years at the Sydney Opera House, the Forbidden City, the Grand Palace of Thailand, and at the White House for the Bush and Obama administrations.

X Sydney International Piano Competition

The 10th Sydney International Piano Competition took place at Sydney's Seymour Centre and Opera House from July 4 to 21, 2012 and it was contested by 36 pianists from 14 countries.