Festival Director: Leo Schofield

Sydney Festival celebrated 25 years in 2001. Local audiences were treated to a celebration of gospel music with America’s First Lady of Gospel, Shirley Caesar, in her Australian Premiere. The opera rarity Mitridate rê di Ponto by Mozart was performed in Australia for the very first time, and beloved Festival artist Robert Lepage returned with The Far Side Of The Moon, scored by Laurie Anderson.

Acclaimed French outdoor performance troupe Plasticiens Volants were commissioned by the Festival to work in a special collaboration with Aboriginal performers from Mulwarr Dance Australia, the result being Ngalyod: The Rainbow Serpent. The free outdoor production featured enormous inflatables including a 25 metre long serpent, designed and decorated by Aboriginal artists.

With its broad line-up, Sydney Festival continued longstanding reputation for being an inclusive event. After all, few festivals could boast of a program that features both an incomparable opera performance and a ferry race.

THEATRE

The Far Side Of The Moon
By Ex Machina
Written, directed and performed by Robert Lepage
Original music by Laurie Anderson

A Cheery Soul
By Patrick White
Director: Neil Armfield
Company B Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company

Fireface
By Marius Von Mayenburg
Translated by Maja Zade
Director: Benedict Andrews
Sydney Theatre Company

Around The World in 80 Days
Carlo Colla & Sons Marionette Company

A Large Attendance in the Antechamber
By Brian Lipson

Night and Dreams: The Death Of Sigmund Freud
Music Theatre Sydney

DANCE

Mixed Repertoire
Choreographer: Nacho Duato
Compana Nacional de Danza (National Dance Company of Spain)

Multiplicity
Choreographer: Nacho Duato
Compana Nacional de Danza (National Dance Company of Spain)

Ngalyod: The Rainbow Serpent
With Mulwarr Dance Australia and Plasticiens Volants
Based on an original story as told by Narrorngorlge

OPERA

Mitridate re di Ponto
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Director: Graham Vick
Revival Director: Patrick Young
Conductor: Richard Tognetti
Opera Australia, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden

The Ghost Wife
A chamber opera in one act by Jonathan Mills and Dorothy Porter
Based on The Chosen Vessel, a short story by Barbara Baynton
Composer: Jonathan Mills
Director: Adam Cook
Musical director: Richard Gill
Librettist: Dorothy Porter
Singers: Kanen Breen, Dimity Shepherd, Grant Smith

Verdi Requiem
Opera Australia, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Australian Opera Chorus
Conductor: Simone Young
Singers: Dennis O'Neill, Rosamund Illing, Bernadette Cullen, Bruce Martin

MUSIC

Beethoven Sonatas
Ian Munro, Mark Coughlan, Michael Brimer, Philip Shovk, Stephanie McCallum, Stephen McIntyre, Stephen Savage

Twilight Chamber Music
Cello: David Pereira, Bonnie Smart
Piano: Suzanne Powell

Twilight Chamber Music
Oboe: Diana Doherty
Piano: Bernadette Harvey-Balkus

Twilight Chamber Music: Ensemble 24
Violin: Anna Macdonald, Zoe Black
Viola: Patricia Pollett
Cello: Peter Morrison
Guitar: Gareth Koch

Twilight Chamber Music
Harp: Marshall McGuire
Soprano: Jane Edwards
Flute: Geoffrey Collins
Viola: Patricia Pollett

Twilight Chamber Music: Sydney Soloists
Violin: John Harding, Fiona Zeigler
Viola: Esther Van Stralen
Cello: David Pereira
Clarinet: Francesco Celata

Twilight Chamber Music: The Macquarie Trio
Piano: Kathryn Selby
Violin: Nicholas Milton
Cello: Michael Goldschlager

Brandford Marsalis Quartet

Cubanismo!

Diamanda Galas

Early Music Forum
Richard Tognetti, Erin Helyard, Dr Michael Halliwell

Jazz In The Domain
Rodney Wittaker Trio, Andrew Speight, The James Morrison Cuban Experience, Emma Pask, Tito Puente, Mongo Santa Maria, Erana Clark, Ian Cooper

Passion: Adaptations of J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion
Australian Art Orchestra
Director: Paul Grabowsky

Shirley Caesar

Symphony In The Domain
Sydney Symphony
Conductor: Michael Christie
Special guest soloist: Slava Grigoryan

Bacardi Festival De Cuba
Los de Abajo, Wayne Gorbea & Salsa Picante

Chandon Festival Bar
Endorphin, Wicked Beat Sound System, iOTA, Tina C

FILM

Open Air Cinema

EXHIBITIONS & INSTALLATIONS

Behind Closed Doors: Sydney's Great Corporate Collections

Full Moon: Apollo Mission Photographs of the Lunar Landscape
Michael Light

Fuzzy Prime Ministers

Legends: The Art of Walter Barnett

New Australiana

Triumphal Arch
Gary Carsley (as part of Sydney At Federation exhibit)

World Without End: Photography and the 20th Century

Berlin: Planning Potsdamer Platz, An Urban Experiment in Central Berlin

Masks of Mystery: Unique Treasures from Ancient China

Sydney At Federation

CELEBRATIONS

Australia Day Spectacular

Darling Harbour Celebrations

St George Bank Hyde Park and Eastside Celebrations

SPORT

Coca Cola Amatil Ferrython

NRMA Motorfest

Tall Ships Race

TALKS

A Conversation/Nacho Duato
Lee Christofis, Nacho Duato

A Conversation/Robert Lepage
Robert Lepage, Caroline Baum

Christine Keeler/The Power Of The Image
Lewis Morley, Edmund Capon

Fireface Forum
Benedict Andrews, Max Lyandvert, Justin Kurzel

In The Public Domain
Paul Keating, Professor Omar Akbar, Chris Johnson, Sue Holliday, Peter Droege