Sydney Opera House

“A building that changed the image of an entire country”

Fusing ancient and modernist influences, and situated on a site sacred to the Gadigal people for thousands of years, the sculptural elegance of the Sydney Opera House has made it one of the symbols of twentieth century architecture - a building that, to quote US architect Frank Gehry, “changed the image of an entire country.”

Today it is Australia’s number one tourist destination, welcoming more than 8.2 million visitors a year and one of the world’s busiest performing arts centres, presenting more than 2000 shows 363 days a year for more than 1.5 million people, from the work of the seven flagship arts companies to which it is home to First Nations’ arts and culture, talks and ideas, theatre and dance and the superstars of classical and contemporary music.

The breadth of those experiences reflects our visionary 1961 Act, which charges the Opera House not only with the promotion of artistic taste across all art forms, but also “scientific research into, and the encouragement of, new and improved forms of entertainment and methods of presentation.”

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