Welcome to the new season
Opening celebrations: 1–4 October 2026
First Philharmonic Concert: 23 September 2026
We warmly invite you and look forward to seeing you there!
Tickets are on sale!
Theater & Orchester Heidelberg is currently closed for the summer break.
We will open the new season on 23 September with the 1st Philharmonic Concert, »Departure«, at the Stadthalle, followed by our grand Season Opening from 1 to 4 October! For four days, we will open our doors and bring squares and stages to life as places for encounters. Join us on 1 October for the Magical Parcours through Heidelberg’s Old Town and experience our Grand Season Preview in the Marguerre-Saal, with exclusive glimpses of the highlights of the new season. From 2 to 4 October, six premieres across all our artistic departments await you.
Make sure to secure your tickets for the 2026/27 season in good time! Tickets are already on sale for September and October, for the Baroque Festival Winter in Schwetzingen, for performances around New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and for the children’s and family production »Dot and Anton«. You can also conveniently order tickets online via our webshop around the clock throughout the summer break. The Box Office will reopen on 31 August.
We wish you a wonderful summer and look forward to welcoming you to the new season!
first highlights & premieres
with additional texts by Mithu Sanyal
following the book by Tahsim Durgun
with Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg
after the novel by Virginia Woolf
Grand Season opening 1–4 October
Hello, Heidelberg!
The Ensemble
Season Tickets – The season is yours!
Are you curious about the programme? Are you a regular visitor to Theater & Orchester Heidelberg? Secure your favourite seat and save significantly compared to buying individual tickets. Whether it’s Opera & Musical Theatre, Dance, Theatre, Concerts or a mix of everything – the choice is yours. All season tickets are now available.
It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to Jürgen Berger, who passed away on 31 July 2026.
Jürgen Berger was an invaluable colleague to Theater und Orchester Heidelberg in its international endeavours. Thanks to him, the theatre was able to establish contacts with South Korea and other Asian countries, amongst others, and secure their participation as guest countries for the Stückemarkt. Without him, ¡Adelante! would not exist. From the very beginnings and initial ideas of the Ibero-American festival ¡Adelante!, he was part of the team as a specialist in Cuban and Brazilian theatre, and accompanied the festival for over 10 years as an astute and perceptive curator. To us, he was a critical observer, a networker and a friend. We greatly admired his subtle, respectful and yet keenly observant perspective on the Ibero-American theatre landscape. He had a knack for perceiving artistic developments with great sensitivity and for engaging with the people behind the works with genuine attention. Our joint curatorial exchanges were always inspiring and characterised by critical thinking, mutual trust and a curiosity about new artistic productions.
We shall miss him dearly. With his passing, the theatre loses not only a special colleague, but also an empathetic and passionate individual. With deep sorrow and gratitude, on behalf of Theater und Orchester Heidelberg
Holger Schultze, Lene Grösch, Sandra Kornmeier and Ilona Goyeneche
Programme 2026/27
Opera and Musical Theatre
Dance
with Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg
after the novel by Virginia Woolf
following Franz Schubert’s song cycle »Winterreise«
Theatre
with additional texts by Mithu Sanyal
following the book by Tahsim Durgun
by Laura Linnenbaum and Jan Preißler
by Leon Wieferich, Jana Gmelin and Franziska Kühnle
Young Theatre
Concert
Philharmonic Concerts and New Year’s Concerts
Bachchor Concerts
BEƎTHOVEN | The Piano Concertos
Concerts for a Young Audience
Chamber Concerts
What’s New
The new team is continuing the work that has shaped the Theater & Orchester over many years – whilst at the same time opening up new artistic horizons.
TheaterMobil
A travelling stage takes theatre to Heidelberg’s districts
Theatre is coming to you! We are bringing plays to Heidelberg’s districts and around with the new TheaterMobil. You’ll find us in Emmertsgrund, on Boxberg, at Pfaffengrund and other places – as a planned event or on the spur of the moment. All it takes is to raise the tarpaulin and put up a few chairs: off we go and play for you!
There’s more: please join in and sing, dance, talk, play with us during workshops with a cup of chai, coffee, lemonade or mulled wine. The TheaterMobil is an open space for encounters: a space for conversations, community and moments with arts and culture. Heidelberg is a stage – and its districts lively venues.
Studio X
zwinger x becomes Studio X – a stage for the town. With an even bigger event series, we are adding other venues at Theater & Orchester Heidelberg and throughout the town in addition to zwinger. The X remains in place to represent collaboration and networks with open ears for the city. It stands for diversity and curiosity, encounters and experiments. This is where theatre meets communities, associations and initiatives in joint events and projects. It is open to various formats in arts and debate: queer writing workshops, post-colonial city tours, talks about Jewish life today, drag shows, parties and much more.
Do you have ideas for a collaboration or an event?
Contact Community Dramaturge Jana Gmelin: jana.gmelin [at] heidelberg.de
Play-along productions
Three productions from our 2026/27 programme are being created in collaboration with people from Heidelberg and the surrounding region.
No prior knowledge or theatre experience is required. Above all, what matters is curiosity, an open mind and a desire to be part of a professional theatre production and to perform on stage following a rehearsal process lasting several weeks.
There will be three participatory productions in the 2026/27 season:
A declaration of love featuring people from Heidelberg, based on the book by Tahsim Durgun
Dance project involving people from Heidelberg aged between 9 and 99
A quest for meaning with young people from Heidelberg, loosely based on the novel by Aldous Huxley
Events
Join in
Internationalism on stage
Heidelberg’s international character is also set to be reflected in the programme in future. As early as the first season, three multilingual productions will be staged, including »Babel«, a world premiere play exploring the possibilities of communication; the contemporary opera »Innocence«, featuring nine languages represented equally on stage; and the participatory production »Please Learn German, Mama«, which addresses issues of migration and integration.
Kinderoper
Opera jukebox
Suggest music for our opera company members to sing for charity. In a relaxed atmosphere, the ensemble’s singers will perform as your very own live jukebox. The programme features not only the most famous opera hits but also an entertaining mix from across musical history: from ABBA to Wagner, the variety is endless.
Each song costs (at least) one euro, and the total amount raised is donated.
BEƎTHOVEN | THE FESTIVAL
With BEƎTHOVEN | THE FESTIVAL, the Theater & Orchester Heidelberg is launching its first dedicated concert festival from 12 to 17 January 2027. The event marks the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death. The programme centres on all nine symphonies, complemented by a cross-disciplinary supporting programme for the whole family at the Konzerthaus Stadthalle Heidelberg.
Concerts start at 7:30 pm
Starting earlier to enjoy at leisure!
Philharmonic Concerts at Konzerthaus Stadthalle Heidelberg will start at 7:30 pm in future.
Season 2026/27 – Programme booklet
Order our season programme to be delivered straight to your door, or click here to view the PDF.
Festivals
Winter in Schwetzingen
The Baroque Festival at Schwetzingen Palace
21 November 2026 to 29 January 2027
BEƎTHOVEN | THE FESTIVAL
12 to 17 January 2027
Konzerthaus Stadthalle Heidelberg
Tanzbiennale Heidelberg
The international dance festival
A project by TANZallianz – a collaboration of Theater & Orchester Heidelberg and UnterwegsTheater Heidelberg
29 January to 7 February 2027