Join in! Opera & Leisure - Deutsche Oper Berlin
Our afternoon, weekend and holiday offerings give children, teenagers and families an opportunity to try stuff out and pursue their own creative ideas. We provide you with almost boundless scope to discover new skills, develop existing talents, probe new realms of self-identity and find a platform from which to express your own art! In our workshops artists and drama teachers go about the task of reinventing, with you, the world of musical theatre.
Current announcements, dates, offers and recommendations are announced via our website, the regularly published newsletters "Family" and "Youth" and via Instagram. Stay informed!
A participatory project for children aged 8 to 11
During the winter holiday week this year, the focus will be on the voice as an instrument that we always have with us. In various workshops, children will discover all the things that can be done with the voice and develop their own sounds and music, which they will present at the end of the week on 7 February 2026 in the carpentry workshop.
Children must be 8 or 11 years old by 1 January 2026 and at least in the 2nd grade. The programme takes place without parental supervision.
The Winter Holiday Music Lab is supported by the Förderkreis der Deutschen Oper Berlin (Supporters' Association of the Deutsche Oper Berlin) and takes place in cooperation with the Heinrich Schulz Library.
Cost
€100 standard price / free with proof of eligibility (formerly ‘berlinpass’).
Registration under
Laboratory times & presentation
- From 2 to 6 February 2026, daily from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- We will announce the rehearsal times for 7 February during the winter holiday week.
- Final presentation: Saturday, 7 February, 4:00 p.m., in the Tischlerei
Tickets must be purchased for all spectators attending this event. These can be obtained from the Deutsche Oper Berlin online shop:
The following workshops are available:
Workshop 1: Chorus – join in!
If you can speak, you can sing! And when you sing together with others in a chorus and let your voice be heard in a group, it can sound especially beautiful and feel very, very good. Try singing lively canons and funny or dreamy songs in our winter holiday choral workshop.
The workshop is led by Rosemarie Arzt.
Workshop 2: Chorus – homemade
You don't necessarily need finished songs to sing together. We can also invent what we sing on the spot! Or we can change songs however we want. In this lab, we'll learn musical sign language to conduct ourselves, to invent music together and then make it sound really good. Let's try out together what a chorus can be like when everyone contributes ideas and helps out!
The workshop is led by Hannah Ewald.
Workshop 3: Rap
In the rap workshop, you can try out what it's like to rap – no prior knowledge required. We'll listen to beats, play with rhythm and words, and discover together how different voices can sound. We'll write simple lyrics and practise flows and sequences. Step by step, we will develop a song in which your ideas count. The end result will be a short performance or a joint track. Here you can be creative and try something new.
The lab is led by Ali Konyali.
Lab 4: Voice & Electronics
The voice is an incredibly versatile musical instrument.
We can speak lyrics, sing notes and make noises. And when we record these sounds, there's even more we can do: a single voice can become an entire chorus or an instrument that we can play on a keyboard. We explore the possibilities of voice & electronics and use them to develop sound collages and pieces of music together.
The lab is led by Gisbert Schürig.
A participatory youth project for everyone aged 13–18
‘Teenie Times’ is a musical theatre project for young people with and without disabilities. The central theme is the phase of life in which the participants currently find themselves: puberty. The young people bring to the stage their own songs, texts and musical theatre scenes that deal with strong emotions such as fear, anger and joy, the dissolution of parental bonds and the formation of new relationships, as well as the negotiation of identity and power.
Rehearsals will take place on weekends, afternoons and during the Easter holidays from January to June 2026, with performances planned for the end of June 2026 at the Tischlerei.
Participation is free of charge.
Registration at
TEENIE TIMES is supported by ‘Zur Bühne’, the funding programme of the German Stage Association as part of ‘Culture Makes Strong. Alliances for Education’.
A hands-on programme for children aged 6–10
The Opernmäuse ('opera mice') are back and they're taking over the opera house! Looking, listening, learning..., they're peeking behind the scenes, taking tours and workshops, being asked for their impressions at rehearsals of our children's productions and generally peering and probing into every nook and cranny of the Opera. All we can say is: Go for it!
10 dates in the 25/26 season
The children must already be 6 or a maximum of 10 years old by 1 September, the programme takes place without the accompaniment of parents.
Registration will open in September 2025
stating the child's date of birth.
One-time costs for the entire season:
€ 50,- normal price / € 10,- reduced price.
for families with proof of eligibility ("berlinpass")
For children aged 9 and above
In the 2025/26 season, the children's club is collaborating with the German Opera Berlin's intergenerational chorus to develop a staged concert. In this cross-generational project, they will use song and short scenes to explore the question of what is valuable to whom and how much, in light of the current debates on austerity.
Registration at:
For children aged 0–6 with their families
Our opera family project is aimed at families with children who have not yet experienced opera. Children, parents, grandparents - and whoever else is part of the family - have the opportunity to experience rehearsal visits, musical workshops and musical productions together free of charge. In cooperation with your family centre, you will get to know the opera for children in front of and behind the stage.
The programme is aimed at families with children up to 6 years of age.
Participation is free of charge
Supported by the Heinz and Heide Dürr Foundation
Project management Anne Keil
Collaboration Madeleine Kandschur
Music education workshops Christina von Nell and Letizia Massetti
If you are interested and would like to make an appointment, please send us an email!
