British conductor Duncan Ward has established himself as one of the most exciting and versatile conductors of his generation. He is Chief Conductor of philharmonie zuidnederland (South Netherlands Philharmonic) and Music Director of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, a new position created by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
The 2023/24 season sees Duncan return to the London Symphony Orchestra for two projects in his Barbican debut, with Abel Selaocoe and Isabelle Faust as soloists. Further symphonic highlights include with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Dresden Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Lucerne Symphony, Kammerakademie Potsdam and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, with whom he shares a close relationship. Duncan will make his debut at Zurich Opera with Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as returning to Oper Köln for Peter Grimes.
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, Balthasar Neumann and NDR Elbphilharmonie orchestras.
Recent opera productions have included 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 or Balthasar Neumann, as with contemporary music specialists like Ensemble Modern or Ensemble Intercontemporain. Alongside his more conventional concerts, 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, as well as celebrated Nordic folk band Dreamers' Circus.
Also committed to several music charity projects, in his late teens Duncan co-founded the WAM Foundation, enabling young British musicians to teach in schools across India. He has also regularly collaborated with the South African non-profit organisation MIAGI, for whom he directed a major tour in 2018 to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. Through his work across India, Duncan had the rare privilege to be personally invited to study Indian classical music with the late great sitarist Ravi Shankar.
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 also previously held positions of Associate Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Principal Conductor of Sinfonia Viva. 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 and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.