11th Edition of Operadagen Rotterdam Welcomes Record-Breaking 23,000 Visitors

23.000 people visited the 11th edition of Operadagen Rotterdam, which is more than ever. One third of the shows were sold out: another record number for the festival. Among the box office hits were Toxic Psalms, Parsifal and underwater opera AquaSonic. The organization is happy with the increasing popularity, both in the Netherlands and abroad.

"As a festival, we strive to be open, accessible, and societal relevant", says artistic leader Guy Coolen. "Knowledge or experience beforehand is not required in order to appreciate our shows. More and more people acknowledge that. We think that opera should be for everyone. In the past 10 days, I witnessed a mixed audience during shows. Visitors had an open mind, were surprised by what was happening onstage and listened with the highest concentration. People cheered and whistled after some shows, af if it were rock concerts."

Nomination Innovation Award

Coolen credits the increase in popularity to the maturing of the festival, partly based upon his own artistic ambition. "Operadagen Rotterdam stands for innovation. We search the boundaries of opera and music theatre. The professionals of Classical:NEXT acknowledged this and nominated our festival for an Innovation Award."

International recognition creates high expectations

The artistic leader welcomed many hundreds of visitors from abroad. "They have heard from our festival and come to Rotterdam with high expectations. We are of course very happy with the international recognition, yet this also creates the exciting obligation to artistically make the most of every new edition", says Coolen, looking back on a successful festival.

The 12th edition takes place from May 12 - 21.