Biography
British conductor Duncan Ward has established himself as one of the most exciting and versatile conductors of his generation. He is Chief Conductor of Philzuid (South Netherlands Philharmonic) since 2021, with the orchestra recently extending his contract through 2028.
The 2025/26 sees him return to the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and Musikkollegium Winterthur. He also debuts with WDR Sinfonieorchester, Osaka Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra Tokyo, Slovenian Philharmonic and at Oper Frankfurt.
Symphonic highlights from the previous two seasons included his debut with Berlin's Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester and return visits to the London Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and his tenth collaboration with Deutsch Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
He opened the 2024/25 season with a critically acclaimed debut at English National Opera London with a new production of Turn of the Screw. Further operatic debuts included Opera National de Lyon (Cosi fan Tutte), Stuttgart Staatsoper (Death in Venice) and Bluebeard’s Castle with Oper Zuid & Philzuid.
Duncan made his North American debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2022 with Die Zauberflöte. He additionally conducted the opening ceremony of Salzburg Festival with the Mozarteum Orchester, broadcast live on TV, alongside memorable concerts with Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Les Siècles, Vienna Radio Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre de Paris, Barcelona Symphony, Zurich Chamber, Swedish Radio, Orchestre Symphonique du Quebec, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Sinfonienorchester Basel, Royal Liverpool, NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia and Aurora Orchestra.
Recent opera productions have included Midsummer Night’s Dream (Zurich Opera), Peter Grimes (Oper Köln), Così fan tutte at the Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg, Kurt Weill’s Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny in Luxembourg, and the German premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet as well as Die Zauberflöte at Oper Köln. Previous operatic highlights have included the Chinese premiere of Peter Grimes, a new production of La Passion de Simone (Saariaho) at Deutsche Oper Berlin, a chamber version of Manon Lescaut with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival, Death in Venice with Mark Padmore at the St Endellion Festival, as well as a double bill of Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and Macmillan’s Clemency with Dutch National Opera, and Don Pasquale, Cendrillon and Hamlet for Glyndebourne-on-Tour.
Duncan is passionate about a hugely wide-ranging repertoire, equally at home working with period instrument ensembles such as Les Siècles, as with contemporary music specialists like Ensemble Modern or Ensemble Intercontemporain. Alongside his more conventional concerts, he is recognised for adventurous collaborations with artists such as Abel Selaocoe at the London Jazz Festival, and the London Symphony Orchestra’s performances of Stockhausen’s Gruppen at Tate Modern. He has led acclaimed productions with the homeless performers of Streetwise Opera, including at the London 2012 Olympics, directed 500 amateur musicians in a supersize Riley 'In C' at the Elbphilharmonie, and made several Indian classical collaborations with multi-Grammy nominated Anoushka Shankar.
Brought up in a family of non-musicians and state-educated in Kent, Duncan first conducted aged 12 for a school production of his own musical “Alice”. He studied piano, horn, composition, conducting and jazz at Junior Trinity. From 2012-14 Duncan was the first ever Conducting Scholar of the Berliner Philharmoniker Karajan Akademie, a position created for him by Sir Simon Rattle. He went on to hold positions as Associate Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Principal Conductor of Sinfonia Viva, and Music Director of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, a new position created by the Festival d’Aix.
Additionally an accomplished composer – winner of the 2005 BBC Young Composer of the Year – Duncan is published by Peters Edition. His works have been performed and recorded by the Swedish Radio Symphony, Magdalena Kozena, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Endymion Ensemble, The Sixteen, the Navarra Quartet, BBC Singers, and Streetwise Opera.
Duncan had the privilege to study Indian classical music with Ravi Shankar as a result of his founding of the WAM Foundation as a teenager; enabling young British musicians to teach in schools across India. He has collaborated with MIAGI, the South African non-profit organisation, directing a major European tour to celebrate the centenary of Nelson Mandela's birth. Duncan is a patron of Young Sounds, supporting talented young musicians from low income backgrounds throughout the UK. He was a former British Junior Champion and European medallist in Artistic Roller Skating.
NB Text for website purpose only. For current biography and press materials please download at https://www.askonasholt.co.uk/artists/duncan-ward/