John Eliot Gardiner

John Eliot Gardiner is celebrated as one of the world’s most innovative and dynamic musicians. His work as Founder and Artistic Director of the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras has marked him out as a key figure both in the early music revival and as a revelatory conductor of an exceptionally broad range of music.

Gardiner is a regular guest of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, conducting repertoire from the 16th to the 20th centuries.

Recent achievements with the Monteverdi ensembles include critically acclaimed performances of Berlioz’s “L’enfance du Christ”, Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio”, cycles of Beethoven’s symphonies on both sides of the Atlantic, a GRAMMY nominated live streamed performance of Bach’s St John Passion from Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre, new productions of Handel’s “Semele” and Berlioz’s “Benvenuto Cellini” and the RPS award winning “Monteverdi 450” project.

His wide-ranging repertoire is illustrated by his extensive catalogue of award-winning recordings with the Monteverdi ensembles and other leading orchestras. He holds two GRAMMY awards and has received more Gramophone Awards than any other living artist.

An authority on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Gardiner’s book “Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach”, was published in October 2013 by Allen Lane, leading to the Prix des Muses award (Singer-Polignac). He was awarded a knighthood for his services to music in the 1998 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

As of May 2023