Art on the Steps

Two of Australia's most distinctive contemporary artists, Mel O'Callaghan and Frances Barrett, harness the elemental force of the human voice in two new performance works commissioned by the Sydney Opera House.

Both works, free for visitors, will take place on and under the Monumental Steps across two days. They mark the inaugural commissions of a new Opera House series, Art on the Steps, in which artists are invited to reimagine the potential of this vibrant civic space.

O'Callaghan's work leverages 300 voices from the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and oversized tuning forks to fuse human and architectural breath into a single vibration. Barrett's work features seven vocalists improvising calls and echoes, where sound becomes a way to hold loss and remembrance.