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==Reconciliation with Utzon==
[[File:AUS NSW Opera House DSC05119.jpg|thumb|right|The Utzon Room: rebuilt and redecorated to a design by Utzon]]
Beginning in the late 1990s,1978 the [[Sydney Opera House Trust]] began to communicate with Jørn Utzon in an attempt to effect a reconciliation and to secure his involvement in future changes to the building. In 19991978 the Sydney Opera House Trust and specifically the then general manager, Frank Barnes, invited Utzon to return for the celebrations marking the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Opera House by the Queen. In an interview, published in the Sydney Opera House Monthly Diary in June 1978, Utzon explained why he had declined to attend the official opening and why he did not want to return for the fifth anniversary celebrations. He said, however, that he would like to return to design another building for Sydney preferably on the harbour. He gave subsequent, often very witty interviews to the Sydney Opera's Monthly Diary and a major interview to The Weekend Australian in December 1983. That interview, by Ava Hubble, followed publication of her book, More Than An Opera House (Lansdowne Press 1983) which featured a then contemporary photograph of the handsome Utzon at his holiday home in Spain. In 1984 the Sydney Opera House Trust recommended him for a Order of Australia which he received circa in 1985. In the early 1980s he had written to the Opera House to introduce his daughter who was appointedthen due to holiday in Sydney with her husband and small children. During that visit she attended several performances at the Opera House and met many staff members and artists. Letters written by Utzon and his daughter to Ava Hubble regarding that visit are in the NSW State Library's Utzon collection, along with other letters Utzon wrote to Ava Hubble over the years. In some of his letters he saluted some of his Australian associates on the Opera House project including Premier Cahill, and the then ABC chief, Sir Charles Moses, who was a member of the inaugural Sydney Opera House Trust. It is still quite widely believed that Utzon remain a bitter recluse for years following his unhappy departure from Sydney in 1967. It has been incorrectly claimed that it was not until 1992 that he first gave an interview to an Australian publication, the Fairfax Good Weekend. But this is not the case.... he gave m ass a design consultant for future work.<ref>{{cite web | author=Sydney Opera House Media Release | month=August | year=1999 | title=Utzon Appointment: 'Reunites The Man and his Masterpiece' | url=http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/sections/media_room/media_releases/press_release.asp?idPressRelease=15&sm=5&ss=19 | accessdate=13 Mar 2007}}</ref> In 2004, the first interior space rebuilt to an Utzon design was opened, and renamed "The Utzon Room" in his honour.<ref>{{cite web | author=Chiefengineer.org | title=The Sydney Opera House | url=http://www.chiefengineer.org/content/content_display.cfm/seqnumber_content/1823.htm | accessdate=13 Mar 2007}}{{dead link|date=July 2012}}</ref> In April 2007, he proposed a major reconstruction of the Opera Theatre, as it was then known.<ref>{{cite news | first=Matthew | last=Benns | title=Utzon wants to tear up floor of the Opera House | date=8 April 2007 | url =http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/utzon-wants-to-tear-up-floor-of-the-opera-house/2007/04/07/1175366528643.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | accessdate =12 April 2007 }}</ref> Utzon died on 29 November 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikmCHVv0stlSnIJYFrpEDVBq8I3wD94OKMGO0|title=Sydney Opera House designer Joern Utzon dies|date=30 November 2008|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=30 November 2008}}{{dead link|date=July 2012}}</ref>
A state memorial service, attended by Utzon's son Jan and daughter Lin, celebrating the creative genius of Jørn Utzon was held in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 25 March 2009 featuring performances, readings and recollections from prominent figures in the Australian performing arts scene.
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