Austin Opera - Silent Night

Behind Enemy lines are hearts just like yours

Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's astounding Pulitzer Prize-winning opera receives its company premiere in January 2019, in time for the centenary of WWI. Based on the true story, Silent Night is about a shared thread of humanity in the midst of the horrors of the trenches, when soldiers from all sides and nations came together to mark Christmas Eve, to swap songs, stories, and experiences, stopping the guns for just one night and finding common ground. Remarkably moving and profound, this modern classic shines a light on the men who fought and brings the true cost of war into the foreground.

Joyeux Noel

On Christmas Eve of 1914, a series of unofficial cease-fires on the Front Line saw British, French and German troops leaving their trenches to exchange seasonal greetings, sing together and even play a few games of soccer. An unprecedented event in the early months of WWI, it provided respite from the horrors around them and an insight into those on all sides for soldiers, and those at home.