Sigur Rós with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Iceland’s post-rock pioneers get orchestral!

Across 30 years, eight albums and more than 10 million records sold, Icelandic post-rock trio Sigur Rós have endured as one of the world’s most beloved bands, their ethereal sound instantly summoning images of vast natural beauty and a sensation of elemental truth. In their very first performance at the Sydney Opera House, visionary frontman Jón Þór “Jonsi” Birgisson, multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson and bassist Georg Hólm will be joined on stage by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, playing classics and songs from their latest album ÁTTA across three epic nights.

Formed in Reykjavik in 1994, while the band members were still in their teens, Sigur Rós broke through with their classic second album Ágætis byrjun (1999), a record of otherworldly grandeur that left audiences and critics breathless. The band’s celestial sound, coupled with Jonsi’s spectral singing – a mix of Icelandic and Vonlenska, their own non-linguistic vocalisation – flourished on the acclaimed follow-ups ( ) (2002), Takk… (2005), Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2008) and Valtari (2012). Following 2013’s edgy, industrial Kveikur, it would be a decade before the band – now reformed as a trio – returned with ÁTTA, their most intimate and emotionally direct album to date.

To perform the record for Vivid LIVE, Jonsi – who last appeared at the festival in 2019 with the mesmerising Riceboy Sleeps – has enlisted the mighty Sydney Symphony Orchestra, once again under the conduction of Robert Ames.

Presented by Sydney Opera House