Opera for People with Dementia

Many practical projects and recent research clearly show that music has a positive influence on the quality of life of people with dementia. And it turns out that encounters with children have an invigorating effect.

So, music and children – but this is precisely what the Kinderoper Köln is all about. This is how the idea came about to enable people with dementia to visit the Kinderoper. From the beginning, no events were designed specifically for people with dementia, but we wanted to nurture inclusion and cultural participation for people with dementia by enabling them to attend regular performances at the Kinderoper. Access to opera performances takes place in the normal and familiar ambience of an opera house.
For institutions for people with dementia, Oper Köln also offers a supporting programme for the preparation and follow-up of the performance visit (in the form of materials, workshops and advice about implementation).

Since 2014, the project has been very successful and an integral part of Kinderoper Köln. Whereas at the beginning only four dates per season could be offered, there are now more than twenty, and all of them are booked up. The project was awarded the Rudi Assauer Prize of the Rudi Assauer Non-profit Initiative Dementia and Society (GID) in December 2017.
In June 2019 the symposium "Opera and Dementia" took place at Oper Köln.

We recommend this project to other opera houses and theatres for imitation and are happy to share our accumulated experience.

Watch the project "Opera for young and old – opera visits for people with dementia" HERE in the video .