Frances Barrett — Celia
Frances Barrett imagines the unanswered call of an endling— those last individuals who have outlived their kind — Celia, the Pyrenean ibex, among them.
Event details
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
| Friday 10 April 2026 | 6:00pm |
| Saturday 11 April 2026 | 6:00pm |
For those requiring assistance, wheelchair or companion seating, accessible seating locations are available. For more information please call the Box Office on +61 2 9250 7777 or by email.
Frances BarrettWe are so excited to contribute to the many voices that have sung, screeched, trilled, whistled and squawked on this very special site.
Artist Synopsis
As species after species go extinct, their cries, bleats, songs, barks and chatter fall silent, leaving a profound sonic loss. What significance is held in the silence once occupied by those voices? This work contemplates how the voice lies at the centre of our social bonds and how it can mark both relation and its rupture.
The last individual of a species is called an ‘endling’. Once this individual dies, the species becomes extinct. Celia was the name given by scientists to the last of the burcado (the Pyrenean ibex). She is also known by another name, Laña, which comes from the local language of Aragonese. The burcado is the first animal to go extinct twice. When scientists captured Celia, tissue was harvested from her ear with the intention of cloning her. Once released, Celia died, crushed by a fallen tree. Years later, after many failed attempts, a clone was born. She lived for several minutes before her lungs collapsed. As scholar Adam Searle argues: ‘the bucardo’s story finds relevance in a world evermore accustomed to the ecocide of anthropogenic extinction.’ How might we imagine the sonic resonance of an endling’s story and, in turn, listen for the impact of extinction more broadly?
Seven vocalist improvisers will perform a score structured around practices of call and response. Celia is a composition that harnesses expanded vocal techniques, deliberates on the dynamics of silence, and is underpinned by improvisation. Celia explores the voice as a carrier of loss, grief, intimacy and complex temporalities: as a way to come together or as a way to mark our estrangement.
Meet the team
Frances Barrett (b. 1983, Darug and GuriNgai lands, Sydney) is an artist who bridges sound and performance art, creating immersive installations that position the audience as active listeners. Frances works with the material of sound to destabilise dominant notions of visibility, coherence and legibility. Listening is the sensory focus of her work, becoming a way to initiate and imagine queer forms of relation, embodiment and affect. Frances has a long-standing commitment to collective and collaborative processes, working with performers, vocalists and sound designers in the development of each new work.
Frances’ projects have been presented by Adelaide Biennale, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Biennale of Sydney, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Hayward Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul), Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, and Samstag Museum of Art. She has been the recipient of Suspended Moment: The Katthy Cavaliere Fellowship, a participating artist in the Kaldor Public Arts Projects Australian Artists Residency Program, and a selected artist as part of the Carriageworks Clothing Store Studio Residency.
Jo Fabro is an award-winning composer, vocalist, and specialist singing teacher whose rich and soulful voice has captivated audiences across Australia and internationally for over two decades. Working at the intersection of jazz, soul, and blues, Jo has released four independent albums of original music, including her 2022 blues album Don’t Make a Liar Out of Me, which won three independent songwriting awards and reached the Australian Blues and Roots Airplay Charts Top 10.
Alongside her performance career, Jo is a respected educator, operating a successful private voice studio since 2013 and lecturing at the Sydney Conservatorium Open Academy. She is currently undertaking a PhD in contemporary vocal pedagogy at Macquarie University and serves as the President of the NSW chapter of ANATS (Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing).
In recent years, Jo has expanded her practice into interdisciplinary performance, collaborating with artist Frances Barrett on improvisational sound and video installations. These include the single-channelled video work, A Song for Katthy (2022), and Cry (2023), a vocal improvisation and sound installation featured at Carriageworks as part of The National: Australian Art Now. These works explore the voice as both instrument and material, shifting between song, improvisation, and installation.
Vocalist, Improviser Biographies
Alyx Dennison is a singer, composer and sound artist living and working on Wangal and Gadigal Land. She works across a variety of forms - including theatre, dance, art, film and tv. She has released two albums with her previous project kyü, as well as a self-titled solo album with another due for release in 2026.
AnSo an interdisciplinary South Korean artist and performer residing and creating on Gadigal land, blends traditional Korean artistry with contemporary performance in their practice. AnSo's works delve into the intricacies of cultural and queer identity, through sound, body and vocal art. Through their dynamic performances, AnSo seeks to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity through experimentation and improvisation.
Anouk is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and performer whose work traces grief, belonging, and the gentle unravelling of inherited identity. Through music, film and performance, she explores what remains after release - how memory, tenderness, and transformation shape the spaces between loss and renewal
Jazz Vocalist Leah Berry is quickly establishing herself as a notable emerging figure in the Sydney jazz scene. She is an impressive performer, improviser and lyricist, who captivates audiences with her storytelling, and velvety tone. Leah concluded her bachelor’s degree studying Jazz Vocal Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2024 and is eager to continue her growth as a musician in Sydney and Australia.
Nicole Smede is a warrimay multidisciplinary artist, composer and poet of cross-cultural ancestry, living and creating on Wadi Wadi Dharawal Country. Working across sound, voice, poetry, and installation, her practice explores the interrelationship between land, language, and memory, guided by ancestral knowledge. Through immersive soundscapes and poetic works, she invites deep listening as a form of connection and return to Country.
Sonya Holowell is a Dharawal artist composing through voice and text, with improvisation central to her project of emancipation, sovereignty and right relations. She loves the outlier, and counterhegemonic creative energies. Sonya is regularly consulted on judging panels and artistic committees, and is currently undertaking a PhD in Indigenist creative research.
Charlie Murphy (she/her) is a vocalist, improviser and jazz pianist.
Explore the art of Frances Barrett
of
-
Frances Barrett: Meatus, 2022, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Installation image of the sound installation worm divination (segmented realities) by Frances Barrett, Brian Fuata and Hayley Forward, 2022. Image: Andrew Curtis. -
Frances Barrett, Cry, 2023, The National: Australian Art Now, Carriageworks. Images: Zan Wimberley -
Frances Barrett, A Song for Katthy, 2022, Single Channel HD video, 16:21 mins. Accompanying image series by Samuel Hodge. Image courtesy of the artists. -
Christopher Theofanous, Celia, 2025.
You may also like
Attending this event
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a 7-10 minute walk to the Opera House.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. Resale restriction applies. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on +61 2 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.