Sydney Festival 2014 opens today in an
explosion of exceptional theatre, dance, music, visual arts, film and more that
will bring the harbour city to life from January 9-26.

Sydney Festival 2014 is comprised of 106 events, 21 of which are free. With 372
performances across 33 indoor and outdoor venues, Sydney Festival 2014 features
722 artists from 80 companies across 17 countries, in 10 world premieres, 4
Australian premieres and 13 Australian exclusives.

View the multimedia assets at:

http://www.multivu.com/players/English/63912-sydney-festival-2014/

(Photo: http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20140109/8521400035)

In Sydney’s famous outdoor venue The Domain, two fantastic free events are set
to delight, kicking off with Chicago’s R’n'B, soul and disco diva Chaka Khan (

http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2014/Music/Summer-Sounds-in-The-Domain-with-Chaka-Khan/

)on the opening weekend, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra performing Gustav
Holst’s astrological suite The Planets, conducted by Hamburg State Opera
Artistic Director Simone Young, in Symphony in the Domain (
http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/symphony ).

Against a backdrop of some of the world’s greatest theatre and dance, new
Australian works of magnitude and cultural importance dominate this year’s
theatre program. The world premiere of Black Diggers (
http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/diggers )(directed by Wesley Enoch and written
by Tom Wright) unfolds the untold stories of 1000 Indigenous soldiers who
fought in World War One, whilst Michael Kantor and Tom E. Lewis’ indigenous
re-working of King Lear in The Shadow King (
http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/king ) has recently premiered to a rousing
reception by audiences in Melbourne, Australia.

A highlight of the 2014 program is Henry Purcell’s romantic tragedy Dido &
Aeneas ( http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/dido ) in Sasha Waltz’s wondrous
reimagining of the great opera, featuring stunning choreography, a prologue
performed in a giant fish tank underwater, and celebrated Baroque orchestra
Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin ( http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/akademie ).

Internationally acclaimed choreographer Shaun Parker returns to Sydney Festival
with the world premiere of Am I ( http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/ami ),
whilst Halina Reijn performs the lead role in the retelling of the 1927
monologue by Jean Cocteau in La Voix Humaine (
http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/humaine ). Philip Glass presents a live score
to Godfrey Reggio’s Visitors ( http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/visitors )
following its premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and
after a five month sell out season on London’s Southbank LIMBO
(http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/limbo) returns to heat up the 1920s
Speigeltent in the wildly expanded Festival Village.

In Parramatta ( http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/parramatta ) in Sydney’s west,
the favourite free event Parramatta Opening Party (
http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/pop ) is back with free music and festival
fun, and everyone’s favourite yellow friend Rubber Duck (
http://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/duck ) is back too!