Overview
This morning saw the full line-up announcement for Vivid Live, the ten day musical extravaganza that sits under the Vivid Sydney umbrella alongside Vivid Ideas. Vivid Sydney is the annual mid-winter festival of lights, music and ideas, which this year will run from May 25 to June 11.
Beginning in 2009, each successive installment of Vivid has seen the sails of the Opera House lit up like a psychadelic rainbow and one super-special person or two curating the festival's musical component. Past curators have included Brian Eno, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, and Stephen Pavlovic. This year, however, the idea of musical curator has been done away with, and in 2012 Vivid Live will be overseen by Festival Director, Fergus Linehan.
Linehan, who was Director of the Sydney Festival during its boom years of 2006-2009, has been Head of Contemporary Music at the Opera House for the past two years. In collaboration with the programming team at Sydney Opera House, Linehan is this year charged with "cultivating artist-driven projects including unique collaborations, one-off projects and special events."
The first Vivid Live announcement on February 29 revealed that this year's Vivid Live will showcase specially commissioned new work from Sufjan Stevens (pictured), Bryce Denner of The National and Nico Muhly, a composer who's worked with the likes of Bjork, Grizzly Bear and Anthony & The Johnsons.
Today, the entire festival program was unveiled at the Opera House. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Florence & the Machine, The Temper Trap, Janelle Monae and Amon Tobin were added to the already stellar line-up, along with Australian screenings of the LCD Soundsystem doco, Shut Up And Play The Hits.
Full line-up as follows:
KAREN O IN 'STOP THE VIRGENS'
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE
THE TEMPER TRAP
BRYCE DESSNER, NICO MUHLY, SUFJAN STEVENS
JANELLE MONAE & THE ARCHANDROID ORCHESTRA
AMON TOBIN LIVE BEYOND 3D 'ISAM'
EFTERKLANG & SYDNEY SYMPHONY
PVT
SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS
MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND
SEEKAE
DANNY BROWN
MED
ELLESQUIRE
HALFWAY CROOKS DJS
ZOLA JESUS
LIGHT ASYLUM
FORCES
MODULAR
FUTURE CLASSIC
GOODGOD DANCETERIA
URBANSCREEN
General public tickets go on sale at 9am, Thursday March 22. A look at the full Vivid program will follow shortly.
