Zurich Opernhaus with Children
Out and about with kids and culture: there are so many options available in Switzerland. Just check our What’s On column, and you will find a wide variety of activities for children. Most of us are familiar with the bigger museums that cater to families with young children and teens. But what about an art not usually considered child-friendly – opera?
On its amazingly comprehensive website, the Opernhaus Zürich lists “to kindle young people’s enthusiasm for opera and ballet” as one of its aims. Forget any preconceived notions of opera being only for adults. The Opernhaus has dynamic programs available for young children up to young adults that serve to involve children in the process of creating art and participating in it themselves. These programs are primarily in German. The workshops usually focus on operas that are showing at the opera house. These shows are usually performed in the language in which they were written but are equipped with very readable subtitle screens in other languages including English.
The Geschichten Erzählen mit Musik (“Telling Stories with Music”) series is intended for children between the ages of four and nine, with their parents. Children can “meet” well-known characters while listening to music, watching dancers and listening to storytellers. The atmosphere is cozy (cushions on the floor) and the themes of the presentations vary from a bit scary to classic. Some upcoming shows are Perlenfischer and Odysseus. For an introduction to opera, families can also attend weekend presentations of Hexe Hillary geht in die Oper (“Hillary the Witch Goes to the Opera”) and learn from little Hillary that one can sometimes express feelings better with music than with words. These presentations are offered at different times on various weekends.
The Ohrwurm Squillo workshops for six- to nine-year-olds offer a behind-the-scenes look at the opera house building itself while following sounds and solving riddles along the way. This one-hour workshop for children aged six to nine with parents is offered once a month on Saturdays.
If your children aged 12-16 are not going away on a sport holiday from 10-14 February this year, perhaps they would like to participate in the Tube Opera zu Rigoletto. The original opera Rigoletto deals with themes that teens are familiar with such as sexual awakening, bullying and self-realization, and so lends itself well to reinterpretation. In this five-day workshop, participants will work on developing scenes, acting and filming short videos, which will later be viewed and critiqued.
Check the Opernhaus Jung website for details, prices and times.
In addition to the workshops and programs for children, there are a number of other workshops dealing with opera, dance, ballet and choreography for young adults as well. A membership in Club Jung allows young adults to participate in various workshops, meet artists and performers and attend opera and ballet at reduced prices. For more information contact clubjung@opernhaus.ch
By Mary Bider
Mary has three adult children and loves the great outdoors. She has just recently learned to appreciate the opera.
Illustration by Laura Munteanu
