MEDIA RELEASE: Wednesday 24 February 2015

VIVID LIVE FIRST ARTIST ANNOUNCED: (OF ) * BALLOT FOR TICKETS * FOUR NIGHTS ONLY, VIVID EXCLUSIVE

“The most exquisite thing you will hear in your life” – (The Times, UK)

Vivid Sydney and the today announced that one of music’s singular innovators - the towering, ever-transforming Anohni (known previously to audiences as Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons ) - will debut her latest work in four exclusive performances at the Sydney Opera House as part of , the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas.

Incorporating a series of immersive, sense-shifting moments, the show promises to be the transgender artist’s most ambitious and personal yet. Due to the expected high demand, tickets to Anohni’s Sydney-exclusive Vivid LIVE concerts on 27, 28, 30 and 31 May 2016 will be allocated by ballot.

Following sold-out ballots for Morrissey (2015) and 's 3D Catalogue retrospective (2013), Anohni ’s four Sydney-only Vivid LIVE performances will feature her fifth album and solo debut as Anohni , ‘Hopelessness’ , which raises the dramatic power of Antony and the Johnsons to new electronic heights.

American electronic artist and producer (who, along with , collaborated on the new album) and Gaël Rakotondrabe (pianist from Antony and the Johnsons) will join Anohni on the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage in this exclusive Australian premiere.

The shows also mark Anohni ’s return to the city that has embraced her from the start, from her 2003 visits supporting and 2005 Opera House performances (when the singer stole the all- star tribute show, Came So Far For Beauty ) to 2010’s memorable Antony and the Johnsons Concert Hall appearance.

Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer of Vivid Sydney, Sandra Chipchase , said “Vivid Sydney’s cutting-edge contemporary music program brings the most outstanding local and international artists to Sydney and today’s announcement of Anohni at Vivid LIVE is the first of what’s set to be a stellar line-up for the festival in 2016.”

Revered for her inimitable vibrato and classic cinematic sonics, on ‘Hopelessness’ the Mercury Music Prize-winner Anohni combines the symphonic, heavyweight beats of Hudson Mohawke (TNGHT , ) with 's Oneohtrix Point Never to room-shuddering effect. Enigmatic Anohni is a 2016 Academy Award Best Original Song nominee. ‘Hopelessness’ has drawn comparisons to Radiohead's classic Kid A as both a musical evolution and call-to-arms: the album’s world-warning

single '4 Degrees' was released to coincide with the COP24 climate-change talks in . Vivid LIVE , now in its eighth year, will be the second curated by Ben Marshall , the Opera House’s Head of Contemporary Music. Recently named the 2015 FBi SMAC Of The Year, Marshall has brought the likes of Morrissey , Sufjan Stevens and TV On The Radio to the stages of the World Heritage-listed building.

Ben Marshall, Curator, Vivid LIVE , said “Anohni is one of the most talented and powerful contemporary artists working today. She is a transformative artist for this transformative festival. Her fluid, visionary, heart-rending and, dare I say it, subversively pop mediation on the tipping points of gender, sexuality, identity and humanity will stay with you forever after these performances. We are genuinely honoured she has chosen Vivid Live at Sydney Opera House to unveil her most ambitious, compelling and perhaps accessible piece yet.”

The full program for Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House will be announced during the Vivid Sydney program launch next month. vividsydney.com / sydneyoperahouse.com/vividLIVE

SEASON DETAILS WHAT: ANOHNI (Antony and the Johnsons + Oneohtrix Point Never) WHEN: Friday May 27 - Tuesday 31 May, 2016 WHERE: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House TICKETS: From $79+bf

IMPORTANT TICKETING INFORMATION Sydney Opera House expects high demand for tickets for the Anohni (Antony and the Johnsons + Oneohtrix Point Never) series of concerts exclusive to Sydney, based on previous touring success. To ensure everyone has an equal chance to purchase tickets, Sydney Opera House has put in place an online application process. This will minimise the congestion through sales channels and distribute tickets to fans across time zones, states and countries.

Apply for your tickets anytime between Monday 29 February 2016 (10.00am AEDT) and Friday 4 March 2016 (5.00pm AEDT). Tickets will not be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis; all applications received during this period will be equally considered. To apply go to http://vividlive.sydneyoperahouse.com/ APPLICATIONS CANNOT BE ACCEPTED OVER THE PHONE OR IN PERSON.

ABOUT VIVID LIVE AT VIVID SYDNEY From 27 May – 13 June, Sydney Opera House will welcome some of the most ambitious and innovative local and international artists for Vivid LIVE - a celebration of music on the nation's most famous stages – held as part of Vivid Sydney, the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas. Vivid LIVE invites the world’s leading music artists and performers to raise the roof of the Sydney Opera House's theatres, rehearsal spaces, recording studios and most famously, its iconic sails, which are transformed into a unique lighting canvas each year for Vivid Sydney. Now in its eighth year, Vivid Sydney, 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 Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency and runs from 27 May to 18 June 2016. For more information visit www.vividsydney.com

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

VIVID SYDNEY Kate Campbell / [email protected] /0418 126 211 Jessica Parry / [email protected] / 0439 143 566

VIVID LIVE Katie Hardwick / [email protected] / 02 9250 7822 Justin Tam / [email protected] / 02 9250 7836