Ball der Sterne 2026

This event is in the past.

A highlight in the Munich ball sky

In 2026, the Ball of Stars will once again entice guests with its unusual concept. Here you can dance across the parquet to the waltzing sounds of a large orchestra and also experience poignant vocal performances by the next generation of opera singers: The Munich Symphony Orchestra will create a concert program especially for the Ball of Stars and the legendary Hugo Strasser Orchestra will once again be playing for dancing.

Germany’s oldest dance orchestra

The Hugo Strasser Orchestra has played a key role in shaping the ball season at the Deutsches Theater since the mid-1950s and remains an important partner even after the death of its founder and namesake. During his lifetime, Hugo Strasser transferred all rights to the orchestra to his pianist Heinrich Haas Jr., who sadly also passed away several years ago, far too early.

Since then, his father, Heinrich Haas Sr., has been managing the orchestra. Bernhard Ullrich has taken over as musical director, having already taken Hugo Strasser’s place on the solo clarinet after his death and coming closer than anyone else to the wonderful sound of the swing legend. It is still a pleasure to dance to the sounds of this wonderful big band, which is made up exclusively of top-class musicians, some of whom have been part of Germany’s oldest dance orchestra for more than 30 years.

Excellent, dynamic, innovative: The Munich Symphony Orchestra

As one of Munich’s major symphony orchestras, the Munich Symphony Orchestra has been an integral part of the German music scene for over 75 years. It performs around 100 concerts a year in Munich and the surrounding area, as well as touring in Germany and abroad.

The renowned and experimental orchestra, with musicians from 17 different countries, presents varied programs on large concert and open-air stages, in clubs, at unusual venues, and in its own venerable rehearsal hall at the famous Bavaria Music Studios. The repertoire ranges from baroque music to classical and romantic works to film music, from modern classics to 21st-century hip hop and crossover.

A special program is created each year for the Ball of the Stars, consisting of a concert section that is performed partly instrumentally and partly together with the soloists of the evening. In addition, there is also the so-called dance card with pieces to which the audience itself is invited to take to the dance floor. This is a unique highlight that can only be experienced at this ball at the Deutsches Theater.

Conductor: Daniel Spaw
Soloist: Anne Elizabeth Sorbara
Soloist: Jaques Le Roux

Biography Anne Elizabeth Sorbara (soprano)

Radiant and versatile – lyric coloratura soprano Anne Elizabeth Sorbara combines warm timbre, brilliant coloratura, and a captivating stage presence. In the 2024/25 season, she made her house and role debut at the Halle Opera as the prima donna in Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma, a part in which she impressively demonstrated her comedic and technical virtuosity.

Further engagements took her to the Kiel Opera House (Die Fledermaus, A Christmas Carol) and to an Italian opera gala with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra under Nicholas Milton. Most recently, Anne Elizabeth toured with the Northwest German Philharmonic under Markus Huber on New Year’s Day with a colorful program ranging from Verdi to Gloria Gaynor.

She is particularly looking forward to working with Daniel Spaw again, with whom she already opened the 2025/26 season at the La Voce Vocal Festival in Bad Reichenhall. Another concert series with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra will follow in the spring.

Born in Toronto, she studied singing at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Biography Jaques le Roux (tenor)

Jaques le Roux, born in Ladysmith (South Africa), studied singing at the Conservatory of North West University in Potchefstroom. While still a student, he won numerous competitions, scholarships, and prizes. He made his European stage debut in 2007 at the Junge Oper Schloss Weikersheim of Jeunesses Musicales Germany as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola. After an engagement at the Meininger Staatstheater, he moved to the Landestheater Linz in 2010 for seven years. There, in 2013, he sang the lead role in Phillip Glass’s “Traces of the Lost” as part of the internationally acclaimed opening of the new music theater in Linz. He also sang Nemorino in “L’elisir d’amore,” Andres in Wozzeck, Walter von der Vogelweide in Tannhäuser, Alfredo in La Traviata, Camille de Rosillon in The Merry Widow, Fenton in Falstaff, Narraboth in Salome, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto.

Jacques le Roux has worked with renowned conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Franz Welser-Möst, Teodor Currentzis, Alessandro de Marchi, and Dennis Russell Davies, as well as directors such as Robert Wilson, Sir David Pountney, Carlos Padrissa, Roland Schwab, and La fura dels Baus. In 2009, following his live CD recording of Bellini’s Canzone di Camara, the Süddeutsche Zeitung called him “a musical event of international stature.” Jacques le Roux has been a member of the ensemble at the Augsburg State Theater since the 2019/20 season.

Concert program

• Gaetano Donizetti | DON PASQUALE | Overture
• Gaetano Donizetti | DON PASQUALE | So anch’io la virtú magica
• Giuseppe Verdi | LA TRAVIATA | De miei bollenti spiriti
• Ernst Fischer | Tutto va bene
• Giuseppe Verdi | LA TRAVIATA | Sempre libera (cabaletta only)
• Giacomo Puccini | LA BOHÈME | O soave fanciulla
• Gerhard Winkler | Spring in Tuscany
• Alberto Pestalozza | Ciribiribin

Program Dance Card

• Pyotr Tchaikovsky | THE NUTCRACKER | Waltz of the Flowers
• Josef Rixner | “Frohes Wochenend” 1+3 (Foxtrot, Tango)
• Johann Strauss (son) | Voices of Spring Waltz
• Josef Rixner | “Happy Weekend” 2+5 (English Waltz, Paso doble)
• Robert Stolz | The Whole World is Sky Blue
• Gerhard Winkler | Andalusian Dance
• Ernst Brandner (arr.) | Foxtrot Medley Part 1
• Johann Strauss (son) | Tik-Tak Polka
• Midnight Waltz: Johann Strauss (son) | Emperor Waltz, Op. 437

Culinary delights
Our catering partner Lorenz Stiftl and his team will be providing refreshments for ball guests. Choose between a set menu or à la carte dishes. To ensure you get the meal you want, we recommend using the convenient online shop to pre-order.

Fotos © Gert Krautbauer