Client Overview
The Estonian National Opera is one of the oldest and most respected cultural institutions in the region, founded in 1906 under the direction of Paul Pinna and Theodor Altermann as the professional theatre “Estonia”. It has hosted nearly 120 seasons of opera, ballet, and musical theatre, and serves as a landmark in Estonia’s performing arts scene.
The organisation operates as a concert hall, opera house, conservatory, rehearsal halls, costume rentals, and more. In addition to regular performances and concerts, it offers guided theatre tours and event space rentals.
The Challenge
Audience pain points
Estonian National Opera’s visitors include a wide demographic of long-time patrons and younger first-time guests. In the past, many found some of the user journey challenging: information about genres and plays was hard to process, ticket booking required multiple redirects, and intermission refreshments meant physical queues. These pain points diminished the overall cultural experience.
Internal operational challenges
Internally, the Opera team faced limitations due to legacy systems that didn’t scale well: Sales reporting lacked clarity, the website was hard to update, and catering teams struggled to predict demand in advance. There was a clear need to modernise the digital experience to improve efficiency and increase revenue.
With so many genres such as ballet, orchestra, choir, soloists, and more, we had a huge amount of information to present. The real challenge was making sure everything was represented equally and remained easy to find for our audience, no matter what they were looking for.
- Maarja Pärn, Advertising Manager, Estonian National Opera
The Solution
1. Website rebuild with Django CMS
- Goal: Create a modern, maintainable platform for event listings, content, and venue information
- What was built: A custom website on Django CMS with Bootstrap and React components, enabling easy internal content updates
- Key benefit: Improved information architecture, smoother updates for staff, and better navigation for users across all devices
- Goal: Improve the refreshment-ordering experience and reduce operational chaos during show breaks
- What was built: A feature allowing guests to pre-order drinks/snacks online for a specific intermission and pay for it using Estonian bank links. After successful payment, information was automatically passed on to the catering and accounting team via the Estonian National Opera’s internal information system.
- Key benefit: Reduced intermission congestion and improved visibility and predictability for the catering team
The pre-order system allows us to plan resources more accurately and reduce waste. It’s been a significant step forward.
- Kaire Hallismaa, Catering Manager, Estonian National Opera
3. Ticketing system support: Koobin rollout
- Goal: Provide a better, more integrated ticket purchasing experience and offer better insight into ticket sales for the upcoming 2025/2026 season
- What was built: Thorgate served as the Opera’s key technical partner in the rollout of the Koobin ticketing system by offering strategic feedback, user journey input, and implementation consulting
- Key benefit: Faster setup, improved decision-making, and a better-aligned solution tailored to audience needs
The new Koobin-based ticketing system allows opera-goers a unique set of features, such as:
- Preview the view from the seat before buying
- The ability to book multiple performances in a single session
- Voucher tracking and redemption
- Personalised offers and early event access
I want to thank you, especially Evelin and Johan, for helping make this transition possible. Your suggestions, advice and collaboration were invaluable. Switching to a new ticketing system came with risks, but with your support, the process went smoothly.
- Rein Mikk, Head of Marketing and Fundraising, Estonian National Opera
Results
This years-long ongoing digital partnership has allowed the Opera to digitise processes, improve both guest experience and internal operations and increase sales. New digital services have reduced friction in high-traffic moments like intermissions and created a more premium customer journey.
Future Roadmap
The Opera is committed to continuing its digital improvements. Following a comprehensive accessibility audit in 2025, Thorgate is currently working on plans with the Estonian National Opera to make the site more inclusive for all audiences.
Upcoming plans include refining ticketing flows, improving performance analytics, and building out CRM integrations.
Why Thorgate?
With nearly eight years of continuous collaboration, the Estonian National Opera sees Thorgate as a trusted digital partner rather than a service provider. Our dedicated team offers strategic consulting, technical reliability, and fast response times when issues arise.
This long-term relationship means we understand the Opera’s evolving needs and are able to act quickly when new digital challenges emerge. Whether it’s scaling the platform, onboarding new tools, or improving the audience experience.
As I see it, having a designated contact person is a significant advantage in collaborating with Thorgate. Despite the inevitable complexities and the need for continuous adjustments, the overall functionality of the platform is commendable. Moreover, in more intricate situations, the support from Thorgate has proven to be swift and effective.
- Maarja Pärn, Estonian National Opera representative
