Born in London, the tenor Mark Padmore is an internationally sought-after opera, concert and recital singer, who performs regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and first-class musicians. In recent years, Padmore’s performances during his residency with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Simon Rattle have attracted particular attention as a »charismatic evangelist« (Berliner Morgenpost) in the rousing production of Peter Sellars‘ St Matthew and St John Passion. Previously, Padmore was also Artist in Residence with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. In the 2021/22 season, he held the same position at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Alongside his celebrated and highly impressive performances, for example at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in Benjamin Britten’s opera ›Death in Venice‹ and in other leading roles including at the Aldeburgh and Glyndebourne Festivals, Padmore has a very extensive discography which includes Beethoven’s ›Missa Solemnis‹ and  Haydn’s ›The Creation‹ with Bernard Haitink and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, songs by Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart with Kristian Bezuidenhout, Schubert cycles with Paul Lewis and a recording of Benjamin Britten’s Serenade which has won many awards including the Echo Klassik. One of this season’s highlights is Mark Padmore’s debut with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.

In recent years, Duncan Ward has established himself as one of the most exciting and versatile conductors of his generation, whose lively interpretations of the classical repertoire are praised as much as his interpretations of 20th century masterpieces. Duncan Ward has been Chief Conductor of Philzuid since 2021. In addition to concerts in the Netherlands, the 2026/27 sees Duncan return to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Osaka Philharmonic and Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra, and debut with the Tampere Philharmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, Norwegian Radio Orchestra and Warsaw Philharmonic.

Highlights of the previous three seasons have included debuts with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, WDR Sinfonieorchester and NDR Radiophilharmonie; alongside returns to the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony, Gürzenich-Orchester, Orchestre Philharmonique du
Luxembourg, Musikkollegium Winterthur and Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.

Duncan made his North American debut conducting ›Die Zauberflöte‹ at The Metropolitan Opera in 2022.

Recent opera credits have included ›A Midsummer Night’s Dream‹ for Opernhaus Zürich, ›Turn of the Screw‹ for English National Opera, ›Così fan tutte‹ for Opéra National de Lyon, ›Death in Venice‹ for Stuttgart Staatsoper, ›Peter Grimes‹ for Oper Köln and ›Bluthochzeit‹ for Oper Frankfurt.

Duncan’s passion for a wide range of repertoire has seen him work with leading specialist ensembles ranging from Les Siècles and Balthasar Neumann Orchestra to Ensemble Modern and Ensemble intercontemporain. He studied Indian classical music with Ravi Shankar as a result of his charitable work in Europe and Asia.