TheSydney Symphony is internationally renowned^[1] and regularly performs in the Concert Hall (2,600 seats) of theSydney Opera House under Chief ConductorVladimir Ashkenazy.City Recital Hall is dedicated mainly to chamber music and chamber orchestra concerts, featuring many famous international artists as well as concert series by fine local groups such as the renownedAustralian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney's foremost Baroque orchestra, theAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra.

Opera Australia, the world's third-busiest opera company,^[2] has its headquarters in Sydney and performs a busy program of mainly classical and occasionally contemporary operas at the Opera Theatre of the Sydney Opera House. Sydney is the birthplace of the composerGeorge Frederick Boyle.

New experimental and avant-garde music is performed byEnsemble Offspring, Halcyon, The Noise and others, at the recently refurbishedCarriageworks and many small inner-city cafes, warehouses, theatres, etc. Both Liquid Architecture andWhat Is Music are annual festivals of modern music andsound art.

Jazz and alternative music (such as Sydney-basedThe Necks) are played at The Basement and Jazz at 72, and formerly at the now defunct Harbourside Brasserie. The Sound Lounge (SIMA), Jazzgroove, 505 and Red Rattler host regular jazz and alternative music events.

Many well-known Australianrock bands and solo artists began their careers in Sydney. Sydney inductees into theARIA Hall of Fame includeJohnny O'Keefe,Col Joye (& The Joy Boys),Billy Thorpe (the original Aztecs formed in Sydney),The Easybeats,Sherbet,Richard Clapton,John Paul Young,AC/DC,Radio Birdman,Midnight Oil,Rose Tattoo,Mental As Anything,INXS,Icehouse,Divinyls,The Church andHoodoo Gurus. Other important acts include early rockersLonnie Lee & the Leemen,Dig Richards & The R'Jays andJohnny Rebb & The Rebels, surf groupThe Atlantics, beat groupsRay Brown & The Whispers,The Missing Links andThe Throb. The seventies saw "progressive" acts likeTamam Shud,Tully andBlackfeather emerge, followed by glam groupsHush &Ted Mulry Gang.

Sydney is famous for its alternative rock scene, boasting such names asThe Celibate Rifles,indie rockersThe Clouds,The Vines andThe Crystal Set, toelectronic music pioneersSevered Heads,Single Gun Theory,The Lab,Itch-E and Scratch-E and local favouritesSneaky Sound System.and is the original home of the now national alternative rock festival theBig Day Out, which began in Sydney in 1992 featuring local bands such asYou Am I andThe Clouds and international groups likeNirvana.

Other notable bands from the Sydney music scene areAngelspit,Wolfmother and Thy Art Is Murder.

Sydney has a prominent indie or lo-fi scene which features many rising, internationally touring bands such asRoyal Headache, Circle Pit, Electric Flu,Enerate, Raw Prawn, Bed Wettin' Bad Boys and Dead Farmers. While not as widespread as Melbourne's 'scene', Sydney tends to have a mass of tight-knit groups of bands that will tour together, most of which are on the same record label(s).

• Music in Sydney

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