Warren Ellis (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dirty Three) "Two of the great thrills of my performing career have been playing at the Sydney Opera House, quite possibly my favourite building in the whole world. This has been solely due to the tireless campaigning of Ben Marshall. Since his installment as Head of Contemporary Music, Ben Marshall has managed to open the doors to groups like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dirty Three and many others, in attempt to honour the artistic beats in contemporary music, as is de rigueur in the equivalent European and American concert halls."The building was built to reflect the cultural aspirations of its society and it's essential that the programming reflect the lifeblood of contemporary music rather than the traditional arts centre presentations. What an amazing gift for the performers and audience alike."How fabulous and encouraging for us all that Ben is now the curator of Vivid LIVE."Bryce Dessner, The National "It's been a huge honour to work for several years and in various ways with my friend and colleague Ben Marshall of the Sydney Opera House and now as Curator of Vivid Live. Some of my most memorable concert experiences of the past ten years ever have been organized by Ben, including our first ever trip to Australia with The National and then our recent return to headline two nights on the steps in front of the Opera House. Ben is a huge supporter of creative music in the world and I am confident his leadership will be a tremendous asset to the continued success of the Vivid Live festival."Flying Lotus/Steven Ellison, "Ben Marshall recognised the potential of our show in a venue that wouldn't normally invite an artists like myself and the result was better than we could have imagined. I've always loved the magic in art and music and try to figure out how to make every show fresh and original - playing the Opera House was like that for me, we already had a great show but it just came to life inside that space."