_{OPERA PLACES} Joel Allison takes us to Berlin, Germany

City where you’re working?
Berlin, Germany.

How long are you working on contract?
I have been in a Fest position here at the Deutsche Oper Berlin since September 2020. This is my last season at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

What’s the opera house like?
Big and Old. The people who run the house are really wonderful colleagues who try to help us singers stay busy but also not be in rehearsals six days a week when it’s possible.

Where is the most peaceful place in the city?
Schloss Charlottenburg.

Best coffee or tea?
I live on coffee. I love the coffee I make, and then drink whatever else I need at the canteen at DOB.

Coolest bar or restaurant you’ve been to?
I haven’t gone out much in Berlin due to having kids and a busy schedule. My wife and I normally order food when we are too tired to cook. We once went to The Noodle Town in Berlin Mitte, which was very nice.

An activity you have done that is unique to the area?
Berlin has a lot of small lakes around the city which often have quite nice beaches. This past summer we went to a couple with our kids. The city also has very large parks and some of them have beer gardens with playgrounds nearby. So you can run the kids out in the afternoon and evening and also have a nice local beer on a patio looking over the Spree with nice greenery around.

Is there something unexpected that happens locally that you discovered?
The amount of random holidays in May and June in Germany was quite unexpected. For the people who work normal jobs and the schools, it is quite fun to have a Thursday off for Ascension Day and then also have school on the Friday so everyone takes a “Brükentag (bridge day)”. Sadly as artists, we work the holiday with a performance and then have to make up the missed rehearsal time on the Friday. The huge plus side of this is that I get six weeks of paid vacation in the summer, which allows for lots of time with the family. I will miss that paid vacation time when I come to the end of my contract.

How did you find accommodation?
I spent three months and saw 30 different apartments trying to find a suitable place to live with my family. Berlin, like most of the world, has a housing shortage.

What’s the most important thing you think of when it comes to finding accommodation as a singer?
A good kitchen and thick windows to block out weather and noise. The EU don’t have the extreme cold of Canada and many older buildings have thinner windows as a result. We live in a new building so everything is a proper thickness.

Have you had a chance to explore some galleries or museums?
All my museum stuff has been kid-oriented. There are lots of very kid-friendly museums in Berlin such as the MACHmit! Museum, German Museum of Technology and the Jewish Museum. Berlin has a museum for pretty much everything one can imagine.

Is there anything else you’d recommend?
If you come to Berlin, really plan what you want to see beforehand. There are three top level opera houses, the Berlin Philharmonic, and enough museums to keep you busy for a long time. Plus easy day trips to Leipzig, Dresden, Hamburg and Halle. So, for an artist the options are possibly overwhelming.