Duncan Ward to Conduct in Place of Joana Mallwitz on September 7
2.9.2026
Joana Mallwitz, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, cannot conduct the räsonanz – Donor Concert at Lucerne Festival on September 7, 2026. She gave birth to her second child on September 1, and we warmly congratulate her and her family. We are also pleased to announce that conductor Duncan Ward has agreed at short notice to step in and conduct the räsonanz – Donor Concert with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Rundfunkchor Berlin.
Duncan Ward made his Lucerne Festival debut in 2017 with Michel van der Aa’s music theater The Book of Disquiet, and in 2018 he conducted Stockhausen’s Gruppen at the Festival as one of three conductors. After studying at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, he was admitted to the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Orchestra Academy on the recommendation of Sir Simon Rattle. He has been Chief Conductor of Philzuid, the South Netherlands Philharmonic, since 2021. He works as a guest conductor with orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. In 2022, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.