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.
The calendar is shown below. You can also download the programme schedule and and the location map here.
Partnerin Opernhaus Zürich
Kalendarium Eröffnungsfest
September 2025
Sat 20 Sep
07.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
11.10
11.15
11.30
12.10
12.15
13.00
13.00
13.15
13.30
14.00
14.15
14.15
15.00
15.00
15.00
15.15
15.15
16.00
16.00
17.00
18.00