Copenhagen Opera Festival Returns with Opera Across the Danish Capital

Copenhagen Opera Festival will take place from 13 to 23 August, offering eleven days of opera experiences at a variety of locations throughout Copenhagen. The festival will feature international opera stars, new works, and free public events across the city.

The festival will be held at locations including Den Røde Plads (The Red Square) in Nørrebro, the University Library in Fiolstræde, the Cisterns, Cinemateket, Tivoli, and along the city’s canals. The programme includes performances, concerts, opera films, community singing events, and music-theatre experiences in a range of formats.

At Den Røde Plads, the Festival Stage will once again bring audiences together for four days of free open-air opera. Performers include singers from the Opera Academy and the Young Artist Programme, the vocal ensemble UngKlang, and students from the Royal Danish Academy of Music.

The festival will also present several new opera productions. Among them are The Ring – Forever Hot, a reinterpretation of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, and The Strong One’s Right – The Weak One’s Duty, the second part of OPE-N’s trilogy exploring the mechanisms of power. Additional productions include SILK. SUGAR. SAND., The Inhuman Human Voice, and Flowers of Hell.

The award-winning family production The Ring will return during the festival. The performance, which received the Danish theatre award Årets Reumert this year, presents Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in a format designed for children aged 7 to 12 and their families.

The festival will also welcome several internationally renowned opera artists. German countertenor Andreas Scholl will perform a recital programme, while tenor Freddie De Tommaso will appear alongside Nicole Car, Etienne Dupuis, and Alexandra Oomens in a programme featuring music from La Bohème. Soprano Allison Cook will participate both as a performer and as an instructor in the festival’s masterclass programme.

This year’s festival will also be the last under Artistic Director Amy Lane, who, after seven years in Copenhagen, will take up the position of Director of Opera at Opera Australia. According to the festival, Amy Lane helped present 31 new opera works between 2021 and 2025 and has worked extensively to support the development of young talent both on and behind the stage.

From 1 September 2026, Louise Beck will assume the role of Artistic Director of Copenhagen Opera Festival.