Sydney violinist Harry Ward has secured a position among the first violins of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Recruited from Berlin Philharmonic’s training orchestra and talent factory, the Karajan Akademie, Ward has been working closely with Berlin Philharmonic concert master Noah Bendix-Balgley since he moved to the city in 2021.
Harry Ward. Photo © Cameron Jamieson
Ward won’t be the only Aussie in the Berlin Phil’s ranks. According to Slipped Disc, he will have trombonist and fellow Sydneysider Jonathon Ramsay for company.
Currently the principal trombonist of the Munich Philharmonic, Ramsay has reportedly won the audition for principal trombone in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and is tipped to inherit the seat of Christhard Gössling, who retires this summer after 39 years in the orchestra. Ramsay was Principal Trombone of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra at 20 and moved to Germany in 2018 to study with Olaf Ott at the Karajan Academy. He will serve a probationary period with the Philharmonic in order to gain tenure.
A graduate of the Australian National Academy of Music, Ward moved to Berlin in 2021 when he was selected for ANAM’s coveted two-year scholarship (sponsored by the Naomi...
Harry Ward certainly won’t be the only Aussie in the Berlin Philharmonic. And not only because of a potential recruit in the trombone section. Principal bass Matthew McDonald and second violinist Stanley Dodd are Australian