Born in the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland, Ludwig Wicki grew up in a musical environment shaped by folk and sacred music. He studied trombone and, at a young age, became a member of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchesters. Alongside this, he pursued studies in conducting and choral direction in Bern. Further conducting studies took him to Dresden, where he worked with Kreuzkantor Martin Flämig, and to Pescara with Professor Donato Renzetti. At the same time, he devoted himself intensively to chamber music and founded the Philharmonic Brass Quintett Luzern. This was followed by CD, radio and television recordings, as well as an invitation from the Empire Brass Quintet to the Tanglewood Institute in Boston. As a Baroque trombonist, he gained extensive experience performing with orchestras and ensembles using historical instruments—experience that now informs his work as a conductor. During this period, he collaborated with renowned figures such as Andrew Parrott, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Jeremy West and Simon Standage.

As a conductor, Ludwig Wicki pursues a wide range of musical styles. From 1998 to 2023, he served as Stiftskapellmeister of the Hofkirche Luzern, where he cultivated the sacred repertoire from Gregorian chant to contemporary music. A particular focus was placed on Mass settings by the Classical composers (especially Haydn), the works of J. S. Bach, and masterpieces of the Renaissance by Palestrina, Monteverdi, Schütz and others. At the Hofkirche Luzern, he continues to lead the Schola, dedicated to the preservation and performance of Gregorian chant. As artistic director of the Renaissance ensemble Il Dolcimelo, he focuses primarily on the works of Schütz, Monteverdi, Gabrieli and Palestrina. As director of the Cappella di San Pietro Lucerne, he curates a concert cycle at the Peterskapelle dedicated to the music of Palestrina and his contemporaries. In the field of symphonic conducting, his repertoire includes works of Late Romanticism, Impressionism and the Viennese Classical period, as well as chamber ensemble works by Stravinsky, Schoenberg and their contemporaries.

In 1999, he founded the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, of which Ludwig Wicki is Artistic Director. The orchestra now presents a full season featuring more than ten special film-music projects. Through this work, he has collaborated with internationally renowned film composers such as Howard Shore, Michael Giacchino, Patrick Doyle, George Fenton, Danny Elfman, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Randy Newman, David Arnold and Martin Böttcher. He also has a particular affinity for classic silent films with live music, including works by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, as well as cult films such as Nosferatu.

In 2008, Ludwig Wicki conducted the world premiere of The Fellowship of the Ring at the KKL Lucerne with the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus—the first live performance of the original film score for the first film of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since then, he has conducted this work in cities including Munich, Washington (Wolf Trap), Lyon and Sydney, as well as with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, and with his 21st Century Symphony Orchestra at Radio City Music Hall and Lincoln Center in New York. This was followed by the world premieres of The Two Towers in 2009 and The Return of the King in 2010. He has also conducted world premieres of Pirates of the Caribbean, Fantasia, Gladiator, Star Trek, Alice in Wonderland, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Titanic, Ratatouille, Indiana Jones, Amadeus, Batman, Aliens, Jurassic Park, and many others. In 2011, he conducted the premiere of the youth project Ristorante Allegro with the Münchner Philharmoniker. In 2012, he led the first recording of The Lord of the Rings Symphony. In 2014, he conducted recordings of Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack for Jupiter Ascending; in 2015 for The Book of Henry; and in 2018 for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, followed by Jurassic World Dominion and Batman in 2021 at Abbey Road Studios. In 2020, he conducted recordings of Howard Shore’s soundtrack for Pieces of a Woman at the Teldec Studio in Berlin, and in 2022 the recordings for the Netflix film The Pale Blue Eye.

In 2007, Ludwig Wicki was awarded the Recognition Prize of the City of Lucerne. In 2013, he received the Award for Excellence in Cultural Creativity from the Global Thinkers Forum.