LIGHTING THE SAILS – 59 PRODUCTIONS / PIXIES / AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA FEATURING THE PRESETS / GIORGIO MORODER

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Stoner, Vivid Sydney event owner and manager Destination NSW and the Sydney Opera House has announced Pixies, the Australian Chamber Orchestra featuring The Presets and Giorgio Moroder as the first acts for Vivid LIVE 2014 at Sydney Opera House. Award-winning British artists, 59 Productions have been commissioned to create a brand new artwork for the Lighting the Sails, a visual centerpiece of Vivid Sydney. Vivid LIVE, part of Vivid Music, is an extraordinary celebration of contemporary music as part of the Southern Hemisphere's largest festival of light, music and ideas - Vivid Sydney. 

From 23 May – 1 June, the sixth annual Vivid LIVE will present some of the most ambitious and innovative local and international artists at the Sydney Opera House, with this year’s full program to be announced on Monday 24 March.

Fergus Linehan, Festival Director, Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House said: “From The Cure to Kraftwerk, Vivid LIVE has become a focus for artists that have shaped modern popular music. It has also become internationally recognised as a platform for exciting collaborations and the presentation of new music.”

“The projects announced today are perfect cases in point. First up is the band the Guardian referred to as ‘the cornerstone of modern rock’ – the Pixies – coming to Vivid LIVE for four Sydney only intimate shows in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. The Australian Chamber Orchestra is one of the world’s finest string ensembles and also one of its most adventurous. For Vivid LIVE 2014 the ACO present ‘Timeline’, a visually spectacular journey through 42,000 years of music, from Aboriginal percussion to the pulsing electronic beats of contemporary music. The concert has been conceived by the brilliant Richard Tognetti and includes a major collaboration with Australian electronic duo The Presets.” 

“Synth-disco legend Giorgio Moroder will make his Australian debut at Vivid LIVE, with two exclusive engagements. The Grammy-winning artist, producer and composer will play an intimate DJ set drawing from his hit-spanning career, with the godfather of dance music taking part in an exclusive Q&A ahead of The Heritage Orchestra’s epic electro-orchestral tribute to the maestro. Finally, we are delighted that projected artworks on the Opera House Sails will be produced by 59 Productions. 59 Productions have created spectacular projected work for everything from the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics to the international exhibition phenomenon ‘David Bowie is’.”

Fergus Linehan discusses the first Vivid LIVE 2014 artists announced here.

NSW Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner said: "Vivid Sydney brings together the best creative talent from around the world for this 18 day event. Vivid LIVE is bringing an exciting line up of musical and creative talent and the Lighting of the Sails will be unlike anything we've ever seen before - and again demonstrates why Vivid Sydney is so unique and special."

Sydney Opera House CEO Louise Herron AM said: "Vivid LIVE is the soundtrack of Sydney in winter. This year’s superb musical line-up, combined with the spectacular sails projections, will once again transform the Opera House into the greatest sound and light show on earth.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:
59 PRODUCTIONS (UK/USA) - LIGHTING THE SAILS
SYDNEY EXCLUSIVE
The award-winning team behind the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony and international exhibition phenomenon David Bowie is create a stunning new artwork to be projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House, Vivid LIVE’s most public event.
DATE: 23 May – 9 June | VENUE: Sydney Opera House sails | TICKET PRICE: Free

PIXIES (USA)
SYDNEY EXCLUSIVE
Seminal indie-rock band the Pixies will make their Vivid LIVE debut in their first and only Australian performance in four years. Worshipped by Radiohead and renowned as Kurt Cobain’s biggest influence, the Boston natives’ exclusive four-night residency promises to be an unforgettable festival opening.
DATE: 23 - 26 May | VENUE: Concert Hall | TICKET PRICE: from $69

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA FEATURING
THE PRESETS (AUS)
TIMELINE
The Australian Chamber Orchestra join forces with electro-pop explorers The Presets to take audiences on a time-bending odyssey through the evolution of music, featuring everything from Vivaldi and Mozart to Miles Davis and Bob Dylan.
DATE: 25 & 29 May | VENUE: Concert Hall & Joan Sutherland Theatre | TICKET PRICE: from $47

THE HERITAGE ORCHESTRA (UK) + WITH GIORGIO MORODER Q&A (ITALY)
THE MUSIC OF GIORGIO MORODER – AN ORCHESTRAL CELEBRATION
WORLD PREMIERE, SYDNEY EXCLUSIVE
Britain’s renegade 50-piece The Heritage Orchestra present a time-hopping tribute to the ‘godfather of EDM’ with a specially commissioned piece for Vivid LIVE. The performance will be opened with an exclusive Q&A with the maestro himself.
DATE: 1 June | VENUE: Concert Hall | TICKET PRICE: from $59

GIORGIO MORODER  (ITALY) + GUESTS -
THE GIORGIO MORODER STUDIO PARTY
AUSTRALIAN DEBUT, SYDNEY EXCLUSIVE
Returning to the dance floor with a rare appearance in the Studio, the disco legend will make his Australian debut at 74 years of age, with an exclusive DJ set – drawing from his genre-defining Donna Summer hits, award-winning theme songs for films such as Scarface and Top Gun and his synth-driven anthems that have shaped electronic music.
DATE: 1 June | VENUE: Studio & Western Foyer | TICKET PRICE: $40

The full Vivid LIVE program at Sydney Opera House will be announced on Monday 24 March, via www.sydneyoperahouse.com/vividLIVE

First announce tickets on sale to the general public on Monday 17 March, 9am sydneyoperahouse.com/vividLIVE +61 2 9250 7777

Follow Vivid LIVE on Twitter @VividLIVE, Facebook facebook.com/VividLIVESydneyOperaHouse and Instagram @SydneyOperaHouse #vividLIVE

Click here to access Vivid LIVE media assets.

From 23 May – 1 June, Sydney Opera House will welcome some of the most ambitious and innovative local and international artists for Vivid LIVE - a ten-day celebration of music on the nation's most famous stages - as part of Vivid Sydney, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest festival of light, music and ideas.

Now in its sixth year, and owned and managed by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, Vivid Sydney, over 18 days, features large scale light installations and projections (Vivid Light); music performances and collaborations (Vivid Music including Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House); and creative ideas, discussion and debate (Vivid Ideas), celebrating Sydney as the creative hub of the Asia-Pacific.

Vivid LIVE invites the world’s leading artists, creative collectives, promoters and digital animators to raise the roof of Sydney Opera House's theatres, rehearsal spaces, recording studios and most famously, its iconic sails, which are transformed into a unique canvass each year for Vivid Sydney.

Vivid Sydney, 23 May to 9 June: For more information visit www.vividsydney.com  Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House, 23 May - 1 June: For more information visit  www.sydneyoperahouse.com/vividlive 

MEDIA CONTACT:
Natasha Bowron

nbowron@sydneyoperahouse.com
02 9250 7822