Young Opera Across Sweden

What does opera sound like up close? What does it feel like to take your first steps into the world of ballet? Over the next five years, Young Opera will travel across Sweden to meet children and young people in all 290 of the country’s municipalities – with performances, interactive workshops and concerts.

As the Opera House in Stockholm closes for renovation, new opportunities arise to meet audiences in new places. Through Young Opera Across Sweden, children and young people from north to south will have the opportunity to discover opera and ballet – no matter where they live.e.

The ambition is a major one: during the five years that the Opera House is being renovated, Young Opera will visit all 290 municipalities in Sweden. There will be several tours and educational activities, including interactive opera and ballet workshops. At the same time, Young Opera will be able to give more performances at the Swedish Museum of Performing Arts in Stockholm, its new home during the renovation.

The initiative has been made possible by a grant of SEK 27.5 million from the Olle Engkvist Foundation, distributed over five years. The hope is that more children will have the chance to discover the performing arts, and that encounters with opera and ballet will spark both curiosity and an interest that lasts.

“The grant gives us the opportunity to visit all 290 municipalities in Sweden during this five-year period, thereby increasing equal access to culture across the country. When we return to the Opera House in 2032, we hope that Young Opera will have become a natural part of life for children and young people throughout Sweden,” says Ellen Lamm.

Young Opera Across Sweden also creates opportunities to develop new collaborations with municipalities, regions and local cultural organisations. In this way, Young Opera’s visits can take shape in collaboration with the cultural life already thriving in each community.

The initiative builds on development work made possible through collaborations with the Royal Swedish Opera’s partner Wallenius and the Signatur Foundation.

About Young Opera

Young Opera creates opera, ballet and music for children and young people – both on stage and through activities that give children the opportunity to discover and explore the performing arts themselves. Every year, Young Opera presents around 700 performances and activities, reaching 50,000 children both in schools and in their free time.

About the Olle Engkvist Foundation

The Olle Engkvist Foundation supports scientific research in the humanities, natural sciences and technology, as well as medicine. The Foundation also supports organisations working with children, older people and people with disabilities. Read more about the Foundation

Would you like to be part of the Young Opera Across Sweden initiative or find out more about what Young Opera does? Get in touch with us at [email protected]