Morning Song, terrific ensembles, engaging hosts and top-shelf soloists – the Festival Stage at Den Røde Plads in Nørrebro has it all. Again this year, the Copenhagen Opera Festival invites you to free opera experiences at an international level in a relaxed local setting.

During five days in August, Den Røde Plads will once again be transformed into a vibrant and wide-ranging festival stage, where everyone is welcome. The style is set when the Opening Concert dazzles with an entertaining and fascinating crash course in opera with pianist and host Mathias Hammer as the experienced guide. Here you can enjoy three real opera stars singing the sun down, including bass singer Stephen Milling, and at the same time learn about the different voices and expressions of the genre.

The popular focus continues on the following days in the square, where the whole family can participate in Morgning Song with Hammer behind the piano and coffee in the cardboard mug, and the little ones can sing along to a newly composed, adventurous opera together with thousands of other children during the singing educational event 'Syng Højt!'.

The also newly written opera 'Time's up, King Knud!' offers magnificent singing and music from both a children's choir, an adult choir, three soloists and an ensemble of nine, while the original performance opera 'The Undoing of Carmen' revives and challenges a beloved classic by dissecting the partner killing in Bizet's 'Carmen'.

The Alehouse Sessions take you back to the English pubs of the 17th century with a full shebang on the violins. The nine-piece orchestra, Barokksolistene, with artistic director Bjarte Eike in the front, is inspired by the Shakespearean theater's interaction, which has triggered rave reviews from media such as The Times and The Guardian. There is room for humour, intrigue and melodrama when Søholm Opera presents their exuberant jukebox opera filled with operatic hits plus a few musical surprises.

And then you can let yourself be transported east with a treasured Copenhagen Opera Festival regular in the form of the Bilal Irshed Trio, where two of the musicians from the Middle East Peace Ensemble and a number of special guests deliver groovy rhythms and great sounds from, among other, the Middle East, Spain and Balkans.

So bring you friends, lovers and family to experience this and much more at the Festival Stage in the heart of Nørrebro!

The Festival Stage is supported by Den Bøhmske Fond, Enid Ingemanns Fond, Glashofs legat, Lemvigh-Müller Fonden og Københavns Kommune.