It’s Copenhagen, its summer, there’s music in the air!

Copenhagen is rich in cultural events throughout the year. The city presents performances in ballet, theatre, concerts and opera at a variety of venues, from concert halls, churches and the outdoors.

Here are just a few examples that will make your holiday in the Danish capital sound good:

The new opera house
A stunning architectural masterpiece on the waterfront, the Copenhagen opera house, Operaen opened in January 2005. It is a unique building designed by Danish architect Henning Larsen with commissioned artworks by Danish artists such as Per Arnoldi and Per Kirkeby.

All levels of the marble-clad foyer offer sweeping views of Renaissance Copenhagen and the city harbour. A restaurant with roof terrace is situated on the top floor offering a panoramic view of the royal palace Amalienborg and the adjacent domed Marble Church.

If you combine your ticket to the opera with a guided tour you will also experience the extensive backstage facilities consisting of five mobile stage units as well as a small experimental stage, Takkelloftet, in addition to the auditorium and the rehearsal and training rooms for the ballet and the opera.

The Royal Danish Orchestra, based at the Opera is the world’s oldest – no other orchestra has as rich a heritage or as long a history, reaching back to 1448.

Forthcoming performances this spring include Tosca and La Nozze di Figaro. See Operaen.dk

Copenhagen – and all that Jazz…
Welcome to the annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival 4-13 July
Shifting freely from happy New Orleans jazz to cutting-edge jazz-electronica, the 10-day-long CJF offers nearly 100 concerts daily, taking place just about anywhere; from small dusty venues to parks, pedestrian areas, boats or jazz-institutions, featuring anything from local hard-core experimentalists to international legends. Over the years, the small-scale project, initiated by jazz enthusiasts in 1979, has expanded to invade every corner of the city.

This year’s highlights:
Ornette Coleman: The Grammy award winning Ornette Coleman remains astounding. He has served as the foremost visionary of his genre, influencing generations of jazz innovators with his dazzling, cataclysmic and otherworldly forays into free-form jazz.

Wayne Shorter Quartet & Imani Winds: He never met a rule he couldn’t break: Wayne Shorter pushes the limits of jazz anew, venturing into the realm of contemporary music.

Cassandra Wilson: With a series of terrific albums, Cassandra Wilson has established herself as one of the day's great vocalists branching out from jazz into blues and folk and pop.

Saxophone Summit w. Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane & Dave Liebman: Saxophone “battles” have traditionally inspired musicians to play their best. On this occasion, Sax Summit will dive in to the music of Ravi's legendary father, John Coltrane.

Other stars coming to Copenhagen this year are Brad Mehldau Trio and Angélique Kidjo - “Djin Djin”. See jazzfestival.dk

Golden Days Festival
5 – 21 September
Expect lots of action when Golden Days welcomes you to Copenhagen of the 1920's and the 1930's. Silent movies, revues and jazz music are going to be the talk of the town when the festival puts the spotlight on this era whose architecture, visual art and design today are more modern than ever. These two decades were much more than just ‘an interwar period' - it was a decisive period with a blooming cultural life, in which vital inventions and proliferations saw the light of day.

It was the time when the biggest names in Scandinavian Functionalism, like Arne Jacobsen and Poul Henningsen started to make a huge impact on the world with their clear lines and organic forms, seen both in architecture and design. This annual festival is just getting better every year. See goldendays.dk

To be or not to be
In Elsinore at the end of July - early August is up to you, but Shakespeare enthusiasts should head for Kronborg Castle, the home of Prince Hamlet, to see the latest interpretation of Macbeth. 29 July – 1 August followed by Romeo and Juliet 5 August – 8 August. See HamletSommer.dk

There is more to Ellsinore in July as it is also the venue for the annual International Organ Festival. It takes place in the old monastery church from the mid 1400's. Musicians from all over the words perform works by Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach. See SctMariae.dk

For more details on cultural events in and around the Danish Capital take a look at Visitcopenhagen.com/events. Here you will find details on concerts, ballets, opera, dance, music events of any kind including blues, jazz, classical, rock and pop – The summer is a great time to discover the cultural richness and variety of Copenhagen, as so much is taking place out of doors. It is also a great opportunity to mix and meet with the locals who take great pride in their Summer City.

How to get there
bmi regional, Britain’s most punctual airline operates daily flights to Copenhagen from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Leeds Bradford airports, with flights available from just £68 one way including taxes and charges. The airline operates an all jet-fleet with business and economy services, business lounge facilities, online check-in and the UK’s most generous frequent flyer programme, diamond club. For more information and to book flights, visit flybmi.com.

For more information on Denmark and Copenhagen go to Visitdenmark.com.

To book accommodation try: Arp-hansen.com, Choicehotels.com and Nphotels.dk/kongfrederik/