Duncan Ward (Composer)
Winner of the 2010 Christopher Brooks Memorial Prize
Duncan Ward is represented by Askonas Holt
21-year-old Duncan Ward has been described by BBC Radio 3 as ‘one of the most engaging, intriguing, and exciting young talents - a real star for the future’ (Les Pratt). Signed by Peters Edition in 2009, he has previously had works performed by artists such as the Endymion Ensemble, Navarra Quartet, The Sixteen, and Brass 10 at venues including the Barbican, Cadogan Hall and the Tate Modern. Duncan won the 2005 BBC Young Composer of the Year competition, and was formerly Principal Composer and Keyboard player for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
First mounting the podium aged thirteen for a school production of his own musical, this summer Duncan conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a public masterclass with Valery Gergiev, and spent a week studying with Pierre Boulez in Lucerne. He was the youngest of 20 conductors selected out of 576 applicants for the 2010 Sir George Solti International Conducting Competition with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in September.
Duncan is founder and trustee of The WAM Foundation (Worldwide Appreciation of Music), a charity promoting musical cultural exchange between India and the UK, and spent July 2010 studying and composing with Ravi Shankar in California. He is currently studying composition with Adam Gorb at the Royal Northern College of Music.
