Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Gardiner's early musical experience came largely through singing with his family and in a local church choir. As a child he grew up with the celebrated Haussmann portrait of J. S. Bach, which had been lent to his parents for safe keeping during the Second World War.[2] A self-taught musician who also played the violin, he began to study conducting at the age of 15. He was educated at Bryanston School, then studied history at King's College, Cambridge, where his tutor was the social anthropologist Edmund Leach.[3][4]
While an undergraduate at Cambridge he launched his conducting career with a performance of Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata VergineinKing's College Chapel on 5 March 1964.[5] This either featured or led to the foundation of the Monteverdi Choir, with which he made his London conducting debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1966.[3] Whilst at Cambridge, he conducted the Oxford and Cambridge Singers on a concert tour of the Middle East.[3] After graduating in history, Gardiner continued his musical studies at King's College London under Thurston Dart and in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, whose music had been a very early influence.[6]
After his period with the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Gardiner went to France. From 1983 to 1988 he was Music Director of the Opéra National de Lyon. During his period with the Opéra he founded an entirely new orchestra.[10] During his time with the Opéra National de Lyon Gardiner was also Artistic Director of the Göttingen Handel Festival (1981 until 1990).[11] In 1989 the Monteverdi Choir had its 25th anniversary, touring the world giving performances of Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt and Bach's Magnificat among other works. In 1990, Gardiner formed a new period-instrument orchestra, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, to perform music of the 19th century. From 1991 until 1995 he was principal conductor of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra.
A European tour in 1993 with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique featured Berlioz's rediscovered Messe solennelle. Beginning in Bremen, Germany the tour ended with a recorded performance in Westminster Cathedral, London 1993.
In 2000, Gardiner set out on his Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, performing, over a 52-week period, all of Bach's sacred cantatas in churches around Europe and the United States.[12]
In late 2004, Gardiner toured France and Spain with the Monteverdi Choir performing pieces from the Codex Calixtinus in cathedrals and churches along the Camino de Santiago.[13]
In rehearsal, 2007
Gardiner has recorded over 250 albums, most of which have been published by Deutsche Grammophon and Philips Classics,[14] and by the Soli Deo Gloria label, which specialises in recordings by Gardiner and by his ensembles.
In late 2012, citing health concerns, he cancelled his planned December 2013 tour of Australia with the Monteverdi Choir and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.[20] In 2013, Gardiner published the book Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven.[21] In 2014 he started a five-year term as President of the Leipzig Bach Archive, being succeeded by Ton Koopman in that position in 2019.[22][23] One of the realizations during Gardiner's presidency was the Archive's collaboration to the Bach 333 box set with the complete recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's works, released in 2018.[24]
Gardiner conducted his Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in a pre-service concert at Westminster Abbey for the Coronation of King Charles III.
In August 2023, Gardiner was reported to have struck the English bass singer William Thomas in front of cast members after Thomas exited the wrong side of the stage during a performance of Les Troyens at the Berlioz Festival in La Côte Saint André, which resulted in a public backlash against the conductor.[25][26] On 24 August 2023, Gardiner withdrew from all further engagements for 2023.[27][28][29][30] The withdrawal was said to be for 'a period of reflection and, in consultation with his medical advisors ... focussing on his mental health while engaging in a course of counselling'.[31]
Gardiner is the son of the British rural revivalist Rolf Gardiner (1902–1971), and the grandson of the Egyptologist Alan Gardiner (1879–1963). His mother, Marabel Hodgkin, was a member of the Hodgkin family, a notable Quaker family; the artist Sir Howard Hodgkin (1932–2017) was Gardiner's first cousin.[45]
Gardiner was married to violinist Elizabeth Wilcock from 1981 to 1997; they have three daughters. From 2001 to 2019 he was married to Isabella de Sabata,[46] granddaughter of conductor Victor de Sabata.[47]
In his spare time, Gardiner runs a farm at Springhead near Fontmell Magna[48]inNorth Dorset, which was established by his great-uncle, composer Henry Balfour Gardiner. His continued involvement in this project has earned him the nickname 'Uphill Gardiner' as a consequence of his unorthodox farming methods.[49]
^"Birthdays today". The Telegraph. 20 April 2012. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2014. Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor, 69