UK garage icon The Streets and divine vocalist Ganavya to play the Sydney Opera House in March 2026

Sydney — Friday 17 October 2025

Multi award-winning UK hip hop innovator The Streets and magnetic New York-born, Tamil Nadu-raised vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ganavya will perform at the Sydney Opera House in March as part of its unmissable 2026 summer music line-up. 

On Wednesday 4 March, The Streets will take over the Forecourt to perform, for the first time in full, their landmark 2004 album A Grand Don’t Come for Free – hailed as one of the most influential British records of the 21st century. Debuting at No.1 on the UK charts and going multi-platinum, the album featured era-defining hits including Fit But You Know It and Dry Your Eyes. Frontman Mike Skinner has carved a singular voice in British urban culture. His sharp wit, storytelling, and genre-blurring sound is both raw and relatable. On stage, he remains an unpredictable force – equal parts raconteur and charismatic hype man – capturing the humour, heartbreak and humanity of modern life. 

Mike Skinner said, “I’ve always loved coming back here with the band, it feels like a home away from home - the crowds are bonkers, they give as good as they get, and this is the first time we’re bringing A Grand Don’t Come for Free to the stage in full... It’s mad to think we’re playing on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. I’ve spent years seeing it from hotel windows, having beers and burgers on the steps, catching glimpses from the top of rides at Luna Park, on ferries to Manly and nights on Circular Quay. It’s always been there in the background on those tours an amazing and iconic part of the scenery. Funny how you spend years staring at it and now you’ve got to get up there and remember the words.”

In the Utzon Room on Sunday 15 March, Ganavya – described by The Wall Street Journal as “among modern music’s most compelling vocalists” – will return to the Opera House following her spellbinding 2025 performance as Nils Frahm’s special guest. Having performed more than 120 shows this year alone, she brings her deeply spiritual blend of jazz, poetry and South Asian devotional music to the Opera House’s most intimate space. Following her new album Nilam (2025) and the acclaimed Daughter of a Temple (2024), both released by Frahm’s LEITER label, Ganavya continues to dissolve boundaries between genres and traditions. Singing in Tamil, English and Marathi, she draws on ancient verse and contemporary improvisation to create a blend of prayer, meditation and ambient sound. Her collaborators have included Floating Points, Esperanza Spalding, Wayne Shorter, Quincy Jones and Vijay Iyer. 

Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Music, Ben Marshall, said: "We’re honoured these two vital musical voices are bringing their electric live performances to Sydney Opera House this summer. 

"Outside on the Forecourt, the grandest stage the city can offer an artist, The Streets will bring razor-sharp storytelling and communal rapture, while the following week Ganavya’s otherworldly, achingly haunting voice will fill the immaculate Utzon Room with quiet transcendence. Mike Skinner is a force of nature, a live performer like no other. To witness this incredibly influential, intimate album transmute live into a profound and joyous communal experience outside on the steps will be unforgettable. Meanwhile, Ganavya’s pure, tender voice will still you inside, and it’s a privilege to be in the same orbit as her artistry as she extends the powerful spiritual lineage of Alice Coltrane. 

"It’s a joy to bring such magnetic power to our stages – and there’s more to come."