Author Jessi Jezewska Stevens visited three Viennese balls last season for the magazines Foreign Policy and The Dial. She was particularly taken with the Science Ball. Here’s an excerpt:

“The Vienna ‘ball season refracts the flamboyant anachronisms of a region in transition. Dozens of guests and former debutantes (…) described the events to me in terms of glorious contradiction. The balls, I was told, are elegant, tacky, rarified, intimidating, democratic, elite, ironic, gorgeous, decadent, tiresome, astonishing; they are both political and apolitical, accessible and inaccessible, international and decidedly Viennese.'”

The highlights and background, the details and the big perspective: they are summarized at a glance in the 2024 ball magazine. The main author is Chiara Joos, who comes from Stuttgart and is currently completing her studies in German philology and journalism and communication sciences in Vienna. We will read a lot more from her.

The ball magazine as a PDF

© Nina Keinrath

The ‘Schmusechor’ (engl. Cuddle Choir) captivates not only with interpretations of Aretha Franklin and David Bowie. The queer-feminist singing ensemble also doesn’t shy away from being politically outspoken.

 A visit to the rehearsal by Chiara Joos

With powerful steps, Verena Giesinger stomps on the floor, thrusts her arms forward, and exclaims, „You have to pronounce it really wildly!“. A choir of tightly packed alto, bass, mezzo-soprano, soprano and tenor voices responds to their conductor Giesinger with a loud, drawn-out „Juuuust“. In a small room at Brut Wien, a production and performance venue for the performing arts, Giesinger rehearses the New Year’s concert with the ensemble, the Schmusechor. These rehearsals mark only the beginning of upcoming performances and an impending theatre production. The weeks leading up to the Science Ball leave no gaps in the calendar. Giesinger and the voices of the ensemble are not only locally popular in Vienna but have already established a resounding reputation beyond the borders of Austria. Continue reading The ‘Schmusechor’: A choir that speaks up →

The dice has dropped

How big is a ton of CO₂? And what does this ton stand for? A joint project by Wiener Stadtwerke and the Vienna Ball of Sciences illustrates the volume of such an amount of carbon dioxide – and the dimension of the challenge of making Vienna a CO₂-neutral metropolis by 2040.

It all started with a simple question: How big is a ton of CO₂? The role of CO₂ in global warming is now widely recognized. Although CO₂ makes up a small proportion of the air, only around 0.038 percent. However, in its function as a greenhouse gas, it plays a crucial role in our climate: CO₂ absorbs part of the heat given off by the Earth into space and radiates it back to the Earth. Continue reading The CO₂ Cube →

The whale comes up for air at Karlsplatz

The newly designed Vienna Museum enables – free of charge – a fascinating journey through time through the history of the city. Praterwal Poldi plays a particularly important role, as the sculpture combines folk culture and science.

A tour by Chiara Joos

The seemingly endless expanses of our oceans are home to around 90 species of whales, divided into toothed whales such as dolphins and killer whales, as well as baleen whales such as the blue whale and the humpback whale. Each species harbors its own unique characteristics, behaviors and whale songs. From the cold Arctic waters to the warm tropical seas, they are widespread worldwide and represent species protection and the changes to our habitats caused by climate change. And then we have Poldi, the Praterwal. Continue reading Poldi, the fun park whale →

Also this year, the fanfare for the Science Ball will be composed by students from the Music and Arts Private University Vienna (MUK).

Chiara Joos introduces the participants

Louis Prades sets the tempo, rhythm, entrances, and pauses. Two years ago, the 24-year-old Student came from Spain to Vienna to pursue a Master’s in Conducting at MUK. Now, he practically oversees 13 musicians and a composition. He received the submitted scores just five days before the rehearsal – little time, a lot of stress. During the rehearsal, 20 minutes per composition are allocated to ensure that both Louis and the brass ensemble and drummers can grasp the feel of the piece.

Continue reading The ball fanfare →