Duncan Ward
Conductor
© Hugo Thomassen
Duncan Ward was born in Kent in 1989 and studied piano, conducting and composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He was named 1st Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic's Orchester Akademie for two years in 2012, on Sir Simon Rattle's recommendation, guiding the scholarship holders on projects including a Boulez programme and gaining important experience assisting Simon Rattle. His work with members of the Berlin Philharmonic led to concerts at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden, the Acht-Brücken-Festival in Cologne and a project titled Violins of Hope. He was Chief Conductor of Sinfonia Viva in the UK from 2015 - 2017 and has conducted other leading orchestras including the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony and the Ensemble intercontemporain. In 2017/18 he appeared with the Dresden Philharmonie, Orchestre National de Belgique and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra for the first time. He was »BBC Young Composer of the Year« in 2005 and has made a name for himself in opera. He also made his debuts with orchestras including the Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Aurora Orchestra. He took up the post of Chief Conductor of the Philharmonie zuidnederland in September 2021 and was named Music Director of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2020, a post he holds until 2023. This season he will make his debut at the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg with a new production of Così fan tutte.