THE ICONIC OPERA HOUSE

THE Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia, close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It hosts over 1 500 performances each year, attended by some 1.2-million people.

Identified as one of the most distinctive buildings and one of the most famous performing art centres in the world, Unesco inscribed in the World Heritage List in June 2007: “Sydney Opera House is a great architectural work of the 20th century. It represents multiple strands of creativity, both in architectural form and structural design, a great urban sculpture carefully set in a remarkable waterscape and a world famous iconic building.”

The expert evaluation report to the World Heritage Committee stated: “… it stands by itself as one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity, not only in the 20th century but in the history of humankind.” The Sydney Opera House,

pictured , was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and formally opened by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on October 20 1973. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Australia with more than seven million people visiting the site each year.

Though its name suggests a single venue, the complex comprises multiple performance venues, which together are among the busiest performing arts centres in the world:

The Concert Hall, with 2 679 seats, containing the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the largest mechanical tracker action organ in the world, with over 10 000 pipes;

The Joan Sutherland Theatre, home of Opera Australia and The Australian Ballet; The Drama Theatre;

The Playhouse with a maximum capacity of 400;

The Utzon Room and The Forecourt, used for a range of community events and major outdoor performances.