One of the Opera’s most important missions is to put on performances for children and young people, and to make it possible for them to pursue culture. During the last twenty years Young Opera has been and continue to be the state-of-the-art for opera and ballet in Sweden.
The Young Opera section has been commissioned by the government to make opera and ballet accessible to children and young people. Through performances and educational activities, the Young Opera wants to open doors to the world of performing arts and arouse curiosity about the Opera House's art forms. The Young Opera's offering is broad and varied, and is aimed at children and young people from preschool to high school. The activities meet children both at school and in their free time, with activities such as guided tours, workshops, performances and Children's Saturdays.
»Just like adults, children want to be moved, challenged and inspired, and wish to be presented with new ideas. Opera and ballet entice you to enter magical worlds full of feelings, movement and music. We’re directly addressing all the audience’s senses here..«
»I sometimes get asked why we put on special performances aimed specifically at children and young people. Is Operan’s standard repertoire not appropriate to them? Well, it is indeed – many of our productions on the main stage work excellently for children/young people, but they’re entitled to a reflection of their own reality and circumstances, just as an adult audience is. They also need to encounter different types of reasoning, adapted to their age group. Just like adults, children want to be moved, challenged and inspired, and wish to be presented with new ideas. Opera and ballet entice you to enter magical worlds full of feelings, movement and music. We’re directly addressing all the audience’s senses here.
We’re opening the 2025–26 season with the new ballet production Who’s there?, choreographed by Royal Swedish Ballet’s former principal dancer Jenny Nilson – a playful story of loneliness and friendship, aimed at children aged 6 and over. After that we’re proud to be programming our opera production Sleeping awake – for the first time on the Rotunda stage. Kulturhuset Parkteatern has previously toured the work throughout the Stockholm area, and it’s been performed all over Sweden by Riksteatern Children & Young People. This is a big production in a small format that both earnestly and humorously describes the girl Gun and her cat Majs, and the joy it is to have an animal to trust in when your parents separate.
In spring 2026 we’re presenting Askungen – Rossini’s classic La Cenerentola in a contemporary version – directed by Örjan Andersson, whose 2019 Orfeus & Eurydike was such a success. It will be an unbridled, high-speed farce about identity and complications for those aged 11 and over.
In collaboration with Folkets Hus och Parker we’ll additionally be appearing at several new locations outside the capital, starting with Sollefteå, Jönköping and Ulricehamn, as part of a long-term drive to reach out to more children nationwide.
I’m also keen to inform you about our new teachers’ guide Med spetsade öron (All Ears; in Swedish), primarily aimed at educators, but of course equally available to all adults wishing to see performing arts with children. Research into children’s culture shows that children like being involved in the performing arts and want to discuss the performances they see. This guide will enable in-depth discussions about the performance you’ve witnessed with your child.«
We are Young Opera!
A close-knit group that produces performances and welcomes a never-ending stream of young people to the Opera House!
This is our group →