Komische Oper ' Young

Opera for children (from 6 years of age onwards)
This will be the seventh season in a row in which the Komische Oper Berlin will première an opera for children. The inaugural performance of Pierangelo Valtinoni's Die Schneekönigin (The Snow Queen) will take place on the Große Bühne (great stage) on 24th October 2010. Following the extremely successful children's opera Pinocchio, we are now very pleased that the Italian composer has exactly tailored his work to the abilities of our children's choir. Anisha Bondy will be directing. The inaugural performance is sponsored by the Schering Foundation. In spring 2011, Elisabeth Naske's family opera Die rote Zora (Zora the Red) will again be included in the schedule.

Concerts for children (from 4 years of age onwards)
The concerts for children are staged on Sundays for families and on weekday mornings for Kindergarten groups and school classes. This series of concerts always consists of an hour of music, accompanied by age-appropriate moderation to encourage participation and independent thought.

Workshops  (from 6 years of age onwards)
Playful, practical introductory workshops help prepare children and young people for a visit to an opera performance. In doing so, the method of dramatic interpretation of music and theatre is used. Every participant slips into a role, experiences the core scenes, and that way reaches his or her own interpretation of the opera. The newly gained insight and experience of music as well as theatre enables young people to take an active part in musical theatre. There are workshops for all of the schedule's operas. They are offered for free as part of a visit to one of the performances.

Additional information
Guided school tours through the opera house...
The age-appropriate tours reveal what our opera house looks like both in front of and behind the scenes. The tour encompasses the audience chamber, the foyer, and the stage area, including all its fascinating and astonishing technical possibilities. From 4 years of age onwards

Orchestra musicians in schools – The concert guides
Attending a symphony concert becomes an especially formative experience for secondary-school and sixth-form pupils if the event is preceded by a visit to the school by one of our orchestra musicians, who uses his or her instrument to provide an introduction to the programme. As part of the concert visit, these 'concert guides' are happy to answer questions and talk to pupils. This is a free offer for school classes which have booked concert tickets. From twelve years of age onwards

For youth care-workers and teachers
In accompaniment to many of our operas, you can order age-specific educational material to prepare your pupils prior to the opera visit. In addition, Anne Kathrin Astrop, an expert in music theatre education, also offers teacher training for selected works, using the method of dramatic interpretation of music and theatre.

Partner projects
In the past season, the project »Abenteuer Oper« (»The Adventure of Opera«), in which the Komische Oper Berlin collaborates intensively with two schools in Kreuzberg, was successfully commenced together with the Berlin building society GEWOBAG.
Entering its second year now is our collaboration with the Kindergartens of the Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Haus, which are participating in the »Early Excellence« programme so that children and their parents can attend opera workshops and opera performances. This project is made possible through the support of the »Heinz and Heide Dürr Stiftung«.

Working with networks – RESEO, ISIM, TUSCH, partner schools
The Komische Oper Berlin is the only Berlin opera house to be a member of the European Network for Opera in Education (RESEO), and is represented in a leading position at the Institut für Szenische Interpretation von Musik und Theater (Institute for Dramatic Interpretation of Music and Theatre) ISIM by its expert in music theatre education.
The Komische Oper Berlin is heavily involved in the TUSCH-Berlin project (TUSCH = Theater Und Schule, 'theatre and schools'). In addition to this project, an intensive partnership has developed between the orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin and the school orchestras and big bands of the Arndt-Gymnasium Dahlem.