At the Arena, 2,407 children with families and teachers for Turandot. Riddles at the museum
Great participation of schools: 1,900 students in the stalls with masters and professors
The performance was created in collaboration with AsLiCo
Education Partner Generali Italia
The Arena has written a page in history together with 2,407 young people. Today, in Verona’s amphitheatre, the first opera for schools and families was staged: Turandot. Enigmas at the Museum. Hundreds of children with their parents, along with 1,900 students accompanied by their teachers, experienced this unique event, becoming the protagonists of an unusual Saturday afternoon “at school desks” in the Arena’s stalls.
The performance, created in collaboration with AsLiCo and made possible thanks to Generali Italia, allowed both adults and children to discover Giacomo Puccini’s final masterpiece in seventy minutes, one hundred years after its world premiere. Great participation came from the audience thanks to the spectator kit, which enabled everyone to become involved through gestures and singing. Guided by the conductor, the audience was invited to sing, perform simple movements and use stage props. Enthusiasm was abundant: smiles and applause transformed the world’s largest open-air opera house into one extraordinary shared stage. The project confirms Fondazione Arena’s commitment to promoting younger generations’ approach to music, theatre and singing from a very early age, so that opera may become above all an experience of discovery, play and cultural growth, as well as an integral part of education.
And the response from schools was immediate. This afternoon, classes from Verona and its province were present. And not only: Monza, Padua, Como, Milan and Trento were also represented, as well as a German school group from Aalen, near Stuttgart. The award for the largest attendance goes to the school from Grezzana, with 500 students, teachers and parents arriving at the Arena to attend the performance, followed by Cologna Veneta with 290 participants.
Among those present in the audience were Superintendent Cecilia Gasdia, Minister of Tourism Gianmarco Mazzi, Massimo Monacelli, General Manager of Generali Italia, Education Partner of the Arena Opera Festival, and Barbara Minghetti, creator and curator of the Opera Education projects.
“We hope this performance succeeded in igniting in children and young people a passion for opera and music, or perhaps the spark of a vocation for theatre professions,” explained Superintendent Cecilia Gasdia. “Children and their families are already today’s audience, and the Arena is ready to welcome them with this and other new initiatives debuting at the 2026 Festival. One of these is the family area, which will allow parents with children aged zero to four to enter an opera theatre. A unique initiative that fills us with pride. This is only the beginning of a new journey that I am certain will bring us great satisfaction. Amid colourful fans and festive lanterns, the Arena today saw the voices and enthusiasm of thousands of young spectators light up the future of opera.”
“I have a strong bond with Verona and with Opera, and I find the idea of an Opera, Turandot, created together with children irresistible,” stated Minister Gianmarco Mazzi. “Opera speaks to the world. Yesterday I was given a surprising piece of data: imagine that in South Korea, a leading country for the presence of many international high-tech companies, among all musical repertoires streamed online, Italian Opera is the most listened to. It surpasses pop, rock, dance and jazz. It is number one in the charts. I believe tourism connected to culture and music must be increasingly strengthened.”
“We are proud to once again be Education Partner of Fondazione Arena,” declared General Manager Massimo Monacelli, “and to contribute to making culture a shared and meaningful experience for all generations. For ten years, through the Valore Cultura programme, Generali has promoted a vision of art and culture as common goods capable of generating social value, inclusion and participation. Opening the Arena di Verona to families means concretely strengthening this vision: offering opportunities for discovery, sharing and emotion in one of the most important symbols of Italian cultural heritage. This is how we interpret our role as a Partner of the Country, helping to make culture increasingly vibrant, accessible and able to speak to the future.”
“It has been an immense honour for Opera Domani to be welcomed into a temple of opera such as the Arena di Verona,” underlined Barbara Minghetti, creator and curator of the Opera Education projects. “Seeing thousands of children make this sacred space resonate to the notes of Puccini was an indescribable emotion: we could not have imagined a better way to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary and the centenary of the first performance of Turandot.”
The adventure for young and old alike is a production by AsLiCo with Opéra Grand Avignon and Opéra de Rouen Normandie for the education project Opera Domani, directed by Andrea Bernard, winner of the 2024 Abbiati Prize from Italian critics.
On the Arena stage, within the scenic setting designed by Alberto Beltrame, appeared the emerging talents who won the AsLiCo international competition for young opera singers: Marianna Iencarelli as Turandot, Davide Battiniello as Calaf, Baopeng Wang as Timur, Aloisia De Nardis as Liù, Francesco La Gattuta, Gerardo Dell’Affetto and Edoardo Manzardo as Ping, Pang and Pong, together with actors Thomas Angarola, Davide Arena and Rosa Maria Rizzi. In the orchestra pit, the Orchestra 1813 conducted by Sieva Borzak.
The performance is part of the Arena Young initiatives, Fondazione Arena’s project for the musical education of younger generations.
VIDEO COVERAGE
It will be possible to download a selection of videos from the event from the following link:
https://media.filmand.it/s/arena2026
Password: stampa
Please note that this material may only be broadcast within the limits of news reporting rights, up to a maximum total duration of 3 minutes.
For any technical issues, the video service of Fondazione Arena di Verona is at your disposal:
FILMAND Produzioni Televisive
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Tel. 045.8204716 - filmand@filmand.com
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Information
Press Office Fondazione Arena di Verona
Via Roma 7/D, 37121 Verona - ufficio.stampa@arenadiverona.it
tel. (+39) 045 805.1861-1905-1891-1939 -1847
