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(Photo credit: Steven Siewert)

Sydney Opera House Receives $150m in Upgrades

The building has under renovation since February 2020, and is set to re-open on July 20

 

Australia's Sydney Opera House (SOH) is set to re-open to the public on July 20, 2022, having received the largest renovation of its half-century history. The upgrades, which came at a total cost of more than $150 million AUD, will improve the hall's acoustics and help it to cater to a wider variety of musical genres.

Prior to the renovation, the SOH's acoustics were often criticized for their unevenness. Now, the doughnut-shaped acrylic sound reflectors that once hung from the hall's ceiling have been switched out for eighteen petal-shaped fiberglass discs. These discs will act in tandem with reflectors made of Tasmanian brush box wood to distribute sound evenly across the space, and especially to the often-neglected rows at the back of the hall.

Further updates include the automation of stage draping, stage rises, and acoustic curtains, all of which will majorly improve the efficiency of set changes during operatic performances.

Alongside this, the steel rigging in the hall's roof has been dramatically upgraded to allow greater use of heavy lighting systems.

"The sorts of works we want to put on artistically are very different now from what was planned for the late 1960s when all of this was installed," said SOH chief executive Louise Herron.

"The Opera House is the symbol of the nation and it is where we want to put on classical music, of course, and to be the best classical music venue that we can possibly be. But equally we want to be able to switch modes so that we’re able to show contemporary performance. Our contemporary music concerts are such a hit and we put on circuses and magic shows and all sorts of family programming."

Along with their newly appointed chief conductor, Simone Young, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will return to the Opera House on July 20 with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" and a commissioned work by William Barton.

Other upcoming performance highlights include Max Richter’s The Four Seasons, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a concert version of Beethoven’s Fidelio.

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