Kinderoper
The Kinderoper, a unique institution in the German cultural landscape, has been dedicated to promoting opera culture among young people since its foundation. It is an integral part of the Oper Köln and is aimed specifically at children and young people in order to familiarise them with the world of opera. This special section of the Oper Köln has adapted to the needs and interests of young audiences and offers a varied programme that includes both classical and modern works.
On stage...
... excellent voices can be heard: the singers of the International Opera Studio and the opera ensemble. The Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne plays in the children's opera performances. In the children's opera, the audience can experience elaborate stage sets, elaborate costumes and lots of stage magic - everything but pedagogical productions! In our participatory productions, children and young people are also on stage themselves, singing and acting.
Behind the scenes...
... is an experienced management team, supported by all of the company's trades and in particular by the Oper.Stadt.Schule department, which offers workshops, hands-on projects, holiday workshops and much more for all children's opera productions. Audience members can also become active backstage themselves: as stage or costume designers, prop masters, authors and composers. You can also complete an FSJ Kultur or a school internship at the children's opera.
To whom?
Für alle jungen Menschen mit und ohne Behinderung, egal, ob sie schon einmal in der Oper waren oder nicht.
Für alle Erwachsenen mit und ohne Behinderung, die gerne eine außergewöhnliche Opernaufführung in lockerer Atmosphäre und mit einer kompakten Spieldauer genießen möchten.
Für alle Senior*innen mit Demenz, für die wir das Programm „Oper für Jung und Alt“ anbieten.
Für alle Neugierigen, die zum ersten Mal mit Oper in Kontakt kommen möchten.
Für jetzige und zukünftige Opernfans, die sich von exzellenten Produktionen verzaubern lassen möchten.
Und was noch?
The children's opera puts on 60-70 performances per season, partly as school performances and partly as family performances at weekends or during the holidays. We stage two new productions and two revivals every year and tour daycare centres and kindergartens in Cologne and the surrounding area with a mobile production. In 2019, the children's opera received the OPER! Award for the best education programme at an opera house. The inclusive project ‘Opera for young and old’ was honoured with the Rudi Assauer Prize from the Rudi Assauer non-profit Dementia and Society Initiative (GID) in 2017 and nominated for the German Demography Prize from the German Demography Network (ddn) in 2023. The children's opera has been a UNICEF sponsor in Cologne since 2018 and is committed to strengthening children's rights.
