Thomas Trotter is one of the most well-known British musicians and an excellent organ virtuoso. He was made Birmingham City Organist in 1983, and is also organist at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey in London and Visiting Fellow for Organ Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. Trotter began his career as Organ Scholar at King’s College Cambridge and later continued his studies in Paris. This instrumentalist has received many awards for his achievements, including the Royal Philharmonic Society Award, the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists ›Performer of the Year Award‹ and the Royal College of Organists’ Medal.

As soloist, this musician has already performed with such artists as Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev, Edward Gardner, Andris Nelsons and Thomas Sondergaard to name but a few. As well as performances in Europe’s most well-known concert halls, Trotter has also been a frequent guest at numerous festivals, from Salzburg via Edinburgh to the BBC Proms in London. He has played with some of the world’s leading ensembles – including the Vienna, Berlin, London Philharmonic Orchestras. His numerous recordings – all appearing on the Regent label – are also considered excellent. For his Liszt recordings for example, Thomas Trotter was awarded the French ›Grand Prix du Disque‹.

Duncan Ward has been Chief Conductor of the Philzuid since 2021. Highlights of recent seasons have included his conducting engagements at the opening ceremony of the Salzburg Festival with the Mozarteum Orchestra which was broadcast live on television, his debut with the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. In autumn 2022, this British conductor gave his Metropolitan Opera debut with Mozart’s ›Die Zauberflöte‹. The season before, he gave his debut at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg with a new production of ›Così fan tutte‹. Duncan Ward will return to the London Symphony Orchestra for two projects in the 2023/24 season. Other symphonic highlights include collaborations with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and the Kammerakademie Potsdam.

Duncan Ward has a passion for a very broad repertoire and as well as working with period instrument specialists such as the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, he also enjoys working with contemporary music ensembles such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Duncan Ward has been closely associated with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen for many years. For example, he conducted the orchestra at the Schleswig-Holstein and the Swiss Klosters Festivals in summer 2021. Ward has also been involved in many international social projects since his youth, including in India and South Africa.

Gerald Barry was born in Ireland in 1952 and studied with Stockhausen and Kagel. His early music from 1979 includes „_______“ for ensemble and Ø for two pianos in which both pianos play identical music simultaneously. Barry’s orchestral works performed at the BBC Proms include Chevaux-de-frise in 1988, No other people in 2013 and Canada in 2017.  Canada will receive its US premiere at the 2019 Tanglewood Music Festival. Barry’s Piano Concerto was premiered at the Munich 2013 Musica Viva.

Amongst his operas, The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit (1991), was at the Berliner Festwochen conducted by Thomas Adés. A new staging took place in 2013 at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant was at Theater Basel in 2008 and La Plus Forte (2007) was commissioned by Radio France for the Festival Présences premiered by Barbara Hannigan. The LA Philharmonic premiered The Importance of Being Earnest in 2011 and it received its first staging at Opéra national de Lorraine – Nancy in 2013 followed by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and a US premiere at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic. Earnest received the 2013 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Large-Scale Composition and the recording, released on NMC, was nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award. A new production by the Nouvel Opéra Fribourg opened in Fribourg and Paris in May 2019. His operas The Intelligence Park and Alice’s Adventures Under Ground will have new productions at Covent Garden in 2019 and 2020.