Vivid LIVE | |
---|---|
Genre | Indie rock, hip-hop, electronic, disco, folk, pop, classical [1] |
Dates | Late May – Early June |
Location(s) | Sydney Opera House |
Years active | 2009–2019, 2021–present |
Attendance | 37,000+ [2] |
Website | https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/vivid-live |
Vivid LIVE is an annual contemporary music festival held by Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid Sydney. Taking place across all six venues at the Opera House, it features a bill of local and international artists, specially commissioned works and the hallmark Lighting of the Sails. It stands as the centrepiece of the Sydney Opera House's contemporary music program.
At the forefront of each lineup are influential artists performing their most impactful works. Over the years this has included The Cure’s Reflections (2011); Kraftwerk’s retrospective, The Catalogue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 in 3D (2013); Brian Eno’s Pure Scenius (2009); Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson (2010) and the Pixies (2014).
Unique projects have ranged from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O in Stop The Virgens (2012); Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner & Nico Muhly in Planetarium (2012) to Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Megafaun and Fight the Big Bull in Sounds of the South (2013).
Vivid LIVE has also seen Australian premieres and exclusive performances from the likes of Ms. Lauryn Hill (2014); Amon Tobin’s ISAM (2012); Chris Cunningham (2011); Bat For Lashes (2011); The Gurrumul Project (2013) and the late Bobby Womack (2013). Most notably, it has showcased a series of emerging artists who have since established themselves at the forefront of contemporary music—including Nils Frahm (2014), St Vincent (2014), Danny Brown (2013), Flume (2009) and Jon Hopkins (2009).
Vivid LIVE was the winner of the Helpmann Award for Best Contemporary Music Festival in 2015.
In 2018 Vivid LIVE celebrated its 10th anniversary.
In its inaugural incarnation 26 May - 14 June 2009, Luminous, the festival was curated by Brian Eno whose aim was to produce a truly eclectic lineup: "people who work in the new territories, the places in between, the places out at the edges." [3] Acts included New York city's experimental rock group Battles, trumpet player and composer Jon Hassell, and comedian/musician Reggie Watts.
In 2010, the late Lou Reed and his wife Laurie Anderson realised their artistic vision by performing works of their own, with Reed's Metal Machine Trio and Anderson's Transitory Life. [4]
2011 saw the Sydney-based music promoter and founder of Modular Recordings Steve Pavlovic program the likes of The Cure, video artist Chris Cunningham and psychedelic rock project Tame Impala. The Studio venue was also transformed into a club space for the first time with parties curated by The Avalanches, Mad Racket featuring Gavin Russom’s The Crystal Ark and 2manydjs. [5]
In 2012, Sydney Opera House took the programming of the festival into its own hands, reflecting the rising status of contemporary music at the performing arts centre. Fergus Lineham, the Head of Contemporary Music at the time, said the change was necessary to facilitate the ambitious nature of the festival: "there was such a time commitment and a geographical challenge that it meant we ended up with a lot of people who would have loved to do something but wouldn't do the whole thing." [6] The lineup included Sufjan Stevens, Florence + the Machine and the Ceremonial Orchestra, and the Australian premiere of Shut Up and Play the Hits—a documentary recounting the lead up to LCD Soundsystem's final performance. Karen O also appeared in the Australian debut of her "psycho-opera" Stop the Virgens. [7]
In 2015, Ben Marshall, Head of Contemporary Music at Sydney Opera House, presented his first Vivid LIVE line up — one that he described as "a celebration of unique individuals' voices". [8] In a first for contemporary music at the Opera House, Sydney label Future Classic presented concerts on the Northern Broadwalk.
2020 saw no festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Curated by Brian Eno
Curated by Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed
Curated by Steve Pavlovic
Lewis Allan Reed was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band The Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Although not commercially successful during its existence, the Velvet Underground became regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of underground and alternative rock music. Reed's distinctive deadpan voice, poetic and transgressive lyrics, and experimental guitar playing were trademarks throughout his long career.
The cultural life of Sydney, Australia is dynamic and multicultural. Many of the individual cultures that make up the Sydney mosaic are centred on the cultural, artistic, ethnic, linguistic and religious communities formed by waves of immigration. Sydney is a major global city with a vibrant scene of musical, theatrical, visual, literary and other artistic activity.
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, writer, inventor, and filmmaker whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting, Anderson pursued a variety of performance art projects in New York during the 1970s, focusing particularly on language, technology, and visual imagery. She became more widely known outside the art world when her song "O Superman" reached number two on the UK singles chart in 1981.
Joanna Clare MacGregor is a British concert pianist, conductor, composer, and festival curator. She is Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and a professor of the University of London. She was artistic director of the International Summer School & Festival at Dartington Hall from 2015 to 2019.
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art institution located at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. As the organization undergoes a multi-year renovation it is currently sited at a satellite loft space in the West Village located at 163B Bank Street, where exhibitions and performances are regularly held. It was founded in Greenwich Village in 1971 by Steina and Woody Vasulka, who were frustrated at the lack of an outlet for video art. The space takes its name from the original location, the kitchen of the Mercer Arts Center which was the only available place for the artists to screen their video pieces. Although first intended as a location for the exhibition of video art, The Kitchen soon expanded its mission to include other forms of art and performance. In 1974, The Kitchen relocated to a building at the corner of Wooster and Broome Streets in SoHo, and incorporated as a not-for-profit arts organization. In 1987 it moved to its current location.
Carl Cox is an English house and techno club DJ, as well as radio DJ and record producer. He is based in Hove, Sussex, England.
Raffaele Marcellino is an Australian composer.
Brighton Festival is a large, annual, curated multi-arts festival in England. It includes music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and family events, and takes place in venues in the city of Brighton and Hove in England each May.
Stephen Pavlovic is an Australian music entrepreneur. Pavlovic began promoting music tours, events and concerts in 1990. Since then he has toured influential artist including Nirvana, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Beck, Foo Fighters, Daft Punk, The Cure, Grace Jones, LCD Soundsystem, and more. In 1998 he founded and ran the successful international record label Modular Recordings home to The Avalanches, Tame Impala, Cut Copy, Presets, Wolfmother, Ladyhawke and others. Pavlovic is widely regarded as a tastemaker with reputation for consistently picking trends; spotting and developing talent; his strong marketing instincts and understanding of international markets.
Andrea Molino is an Italian composer and conductor. He has first attracted international attention through a video/music theatre work, Those Who Speak In A Faint Voice, a project about capital punishment, and later through the multimedia music theatre projects Credo, and Winners.
The King Khan & BBQ Show is a Canadian garage rock duo from Montreal, Quebec, that mixes doo-wop, punk and soul. The band is composed of former Spaceshits bandmates Mark Sultan and Blacksnake, alias King Khan. Mark Sultan, under the pseudonym BBQ, contributed vocals, guitar, tambourine, bass drum, and snare drum, while King Khan provides lead guitar and vocals. An entertainer named Leo Chips, formerly known as Age of Danger of the Deadly Snakes, joined the group as a drummer and organist for some shows during the Invisible Girl U.S tour in 2009.
Sunnyboys were an Australian power pop band formed in Sydney in 1979. Fronted by singer-songwriter/guitarist Jeremy Oxley, the band began performing on the city's pub circuit – where, according to music historian Ian Mc Farlane, they "breathed some freshness and vitality into the divergent Sydney scene". Their first two albums, Sunnyboys and Individuals, both appeared in the Top 30 of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart.
Bryce David Dessner is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, as well as a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother Aaron is also a member of the group. Together they write the music, in collaboration with lead singer / lyricist Matt Berninger.
St. Ann's Warehouse is a performing arts institution in Brooklyn, New York City. It began when the St. Ann's and the Holy Trinity Church on Montague Street was converted into a venue for classical music in 1980. Initially known as Arts at St. Ann's, proceeds from the stage's performances were used to aid in renovating the building.
MusicNOW is a contemporary music and arts festival founded in 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Chamber Music Cincinnati. President Audrey Luna and guitarist and composer Bryce Dessner curated this inaugural season. It was originally held at the Contemporary Arts Center and later moved to Memorial Hall, a small historic theater located in the city's historic Over-the-Rhine district. Festival performers have included contemporary music advocates Bang on a Can All-Stars and Kronos Quartet as well as indie rock groups such as Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors and The National. Two annual elements of the festival have been the inclusion of visual art, including installations by Karl Jensen, and new music commissions.
TheHeritage Orchestra is a British orchestra founded by Chris Wheeler and Jules Buckley. They perform mainstream, cult, experimental and popular music. The orchestra, which ranges between 25 and 65 members, has performed internationally in venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Emirates Palace, and Hollywood Bowl, and tours throughout the UK to major concert halls and large-scale arenas, including The O2 Arena in London.
Mason Wesley Bates is a Grammy award-winning American composer of symphonic music and DJ of electronic dance music. He is the first composer-in-residence of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and he has also been in residence with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the California Symphony. In addition to his notable works Mothership, Anthology of Fantastic Zoology, and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, he composed the score to Gus Van Sant's film The Sea of Trees. In a 2018 survey of American orchestras, he was rated the second-most performed living composer.
Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light, music and ideas, held in Sydney, Australia. It includes outdoor immersive light installations and projections, performances by local and international musicians, and an ideas exchange forum featuring public talks and debates with leading creative thinkers.
NTS Radio is an online radio station and media platform started in the Hackney area of London. The station was founded in April 2011 by Femi Adeyemi "for an international community of music lovers". NTS broadcasts from its studios in London and Los Angeles, as well as remote worldwide broadcasts from its mix of resident hosts and guests. NTS produces a diverse range of live radio shows, digital media and events.
George Ellis is an Australian conductor, composer and orchestrator. He presents concerts for international events with a broad range of styles from classical to pop/rock and jazz as well as presenting orchestral concerts for young audiences. He also lectures in conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and is a regular presenter of Sonic Journey for ABC Radio Sydney’s program with Simon Marnie.