Opening Celebration 2025/26

Opening celebration “24h Opernhaus”

The new season under new artistic direction will be celebrated this year with a unique event. At "24h Opera House," visitors will for the first time have the opportunity to explore the opera house for an entire night and a full day. On Friday evening at 11:00 p.m., the 24 hours begin with night concerts, night tours, sleeping on stage, and a six-hour dance performance lasting into the early morning.

The program includes: Arnold Schönberg’s string sextet "Verklärte Nacht," performed by musicians of the Zurich Opera House Orchestra (from 11:00 p.m.). At midnight, ensemble singer Siena Licht Miller presents, together with composer Kaan Bulak, his new work "The moon is not a mirror" for mezzo-soprano, piano, and electronics. In addition, she will perform songs and arias by Brahms, Mahler, Bizet, and Edith Piaf (from 12:00 a.m.). Swiss-French sound artist Noémi Büchi will present an exclusive electroacoustic set starting at 1:00 a.m. Special night tours complement the program, and there will also be a gastronomic offering.

After that, nothing stands in the way of a few hours of sleep on stage, since numerous beds from the sets of various theater productions will be available. Anyone who brings a sleeping bag or blanket can spend the night directly on the opera house’s main stage – the very place usually home to singers, dancers, and the orchestra.

At the same time, choreographer and dancer Lucas Valente will present the six-hour dance performance "The Thing I Can’t Stop Doing" in the Mirror Hall. The piece begins at midnight and ends in daylight (Mirror Hall 12:00–6:00 a.m.).

After coffee and croissants (from 6:00 a.m.), the day can begin with a joint yoga session (from 7:00 a.m.), before the daytime program kicks off at 10:00 a.m. in the opera house, the theater workshops, and on Sechseläutenplatz. Visitors can enjoy many exclusive insights into opera, ballet, and orchestra rehearsals, public stage set changes, workshop tours, dance workshops, and a varied children’s program. Finally, on Saturday evening, after a full 24 hours, a live DJ on Sechseläutenplatz will bring the event to a close.


Partnerin Opernhaus Zürich


Kalendarium Eröffnungsfest

September 2025

Fri 19 Sep

22.00

Spiegelsaal

Lounge and Bar

Spiegelsaal

22.30

Meeting point ticket office

Nacht Tour 1

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

23.00

Opernhaus

«Verklärte Nacht»

Members of the Zurich Opera Orchestra perform Arnold Schoenberg's String Sextet, Op. 4

23.00

Meeting point ticket office

Night Tour 2

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

23.30

Meeting point ticket office

Night Tour 3

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start. In English.

Sat 20 Sep

00.00

Spiegelsaal

The thing I can't stop doing

Choreographic performance by and with dancer Lucas Valente to music by Daniel Lutz

00.00

Opernhaus

«The moon is not a mirror»

Concert with Siena Licht Miller, Kaan Bulak und Ann-Katrin Stöcker

00.00

Meeting point ticket office

Night Tour 4

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

00.30

Meeting point ticket office

Night Tour 5

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

01.00

Meeting point ticket office

Night Tour 6

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

01.00

Opernhaus

Sonic Nightshift

Electronic set with Noémi Büchi

02.30

Opernhaus

Overnight on the Main Stage

Spend a night at the opera house. Various seating and sleeping arrangements on the main stage invite you to stay. Please bring your own blankets and sleeping bags.

07.00

Opernhaus

Morning Flow with Higher Ground

Yoga session on the main stage. Free tickets available online from 18 Sep, 5:00 p.m.

10.00

Werkstätten

Figurine Crafting for Children

Seerosenstrasse 4, 4th floor

10.00

Sechseläutenplatz

Topsy’s Treasure Hunt

The children set off on a journey of discovery in and around the Opera House, answering tricky questions at ten different stations.

10.00

Public rehearsal of “Tosca”

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

10.00

Sechseläutenplatz

Costume Department-Parcours

Open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., entrance via Sechseläutenplatz (next to the ticket office foyer)

10.00

Opernhaus

Morning Class with the Zurich Ballet

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

10.00

Werkstätten

Open Laboratories

Open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Seerosenstrasse 4

11.10

Studiobühne

Ballet rehearsal “Oiseaux Rebelles” 1

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

11.15

Opernhaus

Family concert “Peter and the Wolf”

Sergei Prokofiev’s musical fairy tale for the whole family. Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

11.30

Meeting point ticket office

Singing Together for children 1

Meeting point 2, Seerosenstrasse 4. Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

12.00

Werkstätten

Face Painting for Children

Seerosenstrasse 4

12.10

Studiobühne

Ballet rehearsal “Oiseaux Rebelles” 2

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

12.15

Opernhaus

Choir rehearsal and sing-along

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

13.00

Meeting point ticket office

Singing Together for children 2

Meeting point 2, Seerosenstrasse 4. Free tickets for this event are available 90 minutes before the start.

13.00

Sechseläutenplatz

Meet Matthias Schulz

Experience the new artistic director in conversation with Roman Reeger

13.15

Sechseläutenplatz

Meet the Dancers

Autograph session with members of the Zurich Ballet

13.30

Opernhaus

Accessible main stage

From 1:30 to 3:00 p.m., the technical team will present a variety of magical special effects.

14.00

Sechseläutenplatz

I Barbieri Singers

Four members of the Zurich Opera Chorus perform an a cappella programme featuring barbershop music and well-known opera melodies.

14.15

Studiobühne

Dance workshop “Colorful Darkness”

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

14.15

Ballettsaal A

Dance workshop for children 1

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start. Meeting point 1 at the information pavilion on Sechseläutenplatz.

15.00

Sechseläutenplatz

Ballet training for everyone

Sechseläutenplatz: Dancers from the Zurich Ballet lead an open training session for everyone

15.00

Opernhaus

Open Stage Changeover

Before the evening rehearsal of “Manon,” the stage set is set up by our stage technicians.

15.00

Meeting point ticket office

Workshop “Nachts im Märchenwald” for children 1

Meeting point 2, Seerosenstrasse 4. Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start. For children aged 6 and up.

15.15

Studiobühne

Dance workshop “Nachtträume”

With dancers of Ballett Zürich. Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start.

15.15

Ballettsaal A

Dance workshop for children 2

Free tickets are available online 90 minutes before the start. Meeting point: ticket office foyer.

16.00

Sechseläutenplatz

Arias with the Opera Studio 1

Sechseläutenplatz: The new members of the International Opera Studio introduce themselves

16.00

Meeting point ticket office

Children’s Workshop “Nachts im Märchenwald” 2

Meeting point 2, Seerosenstrasse 4. Free tickets are available online from 90 minutes before the start. For children aged 6 and up.

17.00

Sechseläutenplatz

Bal moderne

Sechseläutenplatz: Under the guidance of dancers from the Zurich Ballet, a simple choreography will be developed for everyone.

18.00

Sechseläutenplatz

Arias with the opera studio 2

The new members of the International Opera Studio introduce themselves.

19.00

Opernhaus

Public dress rehearsal of “Manon”

Free tickets are available online from 90 minutes before the start.

19.00

Sechseläutenplatz

Live music with DJ Louis de Fumer

Sechseläutenplatz