Christopher Ward, born in 1980, pursued his studies at Oxford University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. During his academic tenure, he collaborated with the Oxford University Philharmonia and Chorus, the Oxford Bach Choir, and New Chamber Opera. In 2003, he earned the position of Répétiteur Fellow at Scottish Opera and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow.

In 2004, he furthered his training at the Internationales Opernstudio at Zürich Opera, before relocating to Germany in 2005. There, he served as Solorepetitor and Kapellmeister at Staatstheater Kassel, where he engaged with a diverse repertoire, led several new productions, and conducted the Staatsorchester Kassel in various concerts, in addition to directing the theatre’s annual youth orchestra project (TJO).

In 2006, Ward assisted renowned conductor Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic in a production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the Aix-en-Provence Music Festival, continuing this collaboration in Berlin and at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 2007.

By 2009, Christopher Ward had become Kapellmeister and Assistant to Kent Nagano at the Bavarian State Opera. His work included leading new productions of Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Haydn’s La fedeltá premiata, and Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, as well as the world premieres of Eötvös’ Die Tragödie des Teufels, Ronchetti’s Narrenschiffe, and Srnka's Make No Noise, the latter opening the international Munich Summer Opera Festival with Ensemble Modern. He also conducted concerts with the Bayerische Staatsorchester, the Orchesterakademie, and the Opera Studios of Munich and La Scala in Milan.

In 2014, he took on the role of 1. Kapellmeister at the Saarländisches Staatstheater, where he led new productions of Weber’s Der Freischütz, Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, Rigoletto, and Nabucco, as well as Dvořák’s Rusalka, Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and Daphnis et Chloé, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel, Rameau’s Platée, Obst's Solaris, and Haas’ Bluthaus. His tenure also included several revivals, ballets, and symphonic concerts.

As a guest conductor, Ward has directed performances at various prestigious venues, including Staatsoper Hamburg, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Komische Oper, Oper Graz, Salzburger Landestheater, Staatsoper Prag, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Staatstheater Mainz, Staatstheater Darmstadt, and Theater Bremen. He has also conducted concerts with orchestras such as the Bremer Philharmoniker, Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Brandenburger Symphoniker, Cottbus Philharmonic, Neue Lausitz Philharmonic, and Altenburg-Gera Philharmonic. Notably, he directed the world premiere of Cekovska’s opera Dorian Gray at the Slovak National Theatre and the Prague Spring International Music Festival in 2015. Recently, he released a CD featuring Schreker's orchestral music with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie for Capriccio, with another recording of Hans Rott’s complete symphonic music forthcoming from the same label.

In 2019, Ward stepped in at short notice to conduct the world premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Babylon at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, filling in for an indisposed Daniel Barenboim. The following year, in 2018, he was appointed Generalmusikdirektor of Theater Aachen and Sinfonieorchester Aachen.