A rapper who lives between “street filth and Beverly Hills”. With sharp lines, social criticism and an unagitated style, Donna Savage is conquering the German rap scene: she studies, lives art and asks herself questions that others would rather not ask. In her sound, anger meets reflection – and opens up space for change. This will be the case at #SciBall25 at 1:00 a.m. when she performs at the disco. Continue reading Clear the Stage for Donna Savage →

Katia Ledoux is the sensation of the season. The opera singer is a guest at the Science Ball for the first time. And she exceeds all expectations here too.

It is an evening that will go down in the annals of opera. Wiener Volksoper, February 1, 2023: Katia Ledoux is on stage, unlike planned. The 32-year-old mezzo-soprano is supposed to play Venus in Jacques Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld”. Just Venus. Just her role. But when Orpheus and his understudy both fall ill, Ledoux takes on both parts – mezzo-soprano and tenor, femininity and masculinity, goddess and human. Without rehearsal, straight into the spotlight. The next day, the world is talking about her. Not only in Vienna, not only in opera circles. Everywhere. Women singing male roles? It happens, but it’s rare. Continue reading The voice that breaks all chains →

Johann Strauss the younger is a classic of popular music and therefore a must at every Viennese ball. Especially in the anniversary year of his 200th birthday. But the Divertimento Viennese ball orchestra, under the direction of Vinzenz Praxmarer, will be offering not only the greatest hits such as the Blue Danube Waltz but also a special surprise as a ball overture: Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “Straussiana” from 1953, a potpourri of rather unknown melodies by the Waltz King, which the composer masterfully condensed into a tribute. Continue reading Discovery at the anniversary →

The Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna (MUK for short) has accompanied the Science Ball from the very beginning. And this is to be understood literally. Every year, students specially compose fanfares which form the prelude to the opening. Student Laura Oos (born 2003) has composed a “Fanfare for the Scientists” especially for this year’s anniversary, which will be performed by students from the Jazz, Wind Instruments and Percussion departments under the direction of the composer. And that’s not all. At midnight, Alexandra Danilova (soprano), Ghazal Kazemi (mezzo-soprano), Malo Peloffy (tenor) and Aleksandr Ivanov (bass) will accompany Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” with the Divertimento Viennese ball orchestra.