Gardiner, Sir John Eliot, 1943–, English conductor, studied King's College, Cambridge, and with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Known particularly for performances of baroque music on period instruments, Gardiner founded the Monteverdi Choir in 1964, the Monteverdi Orchestra in 1968, the English Baroque Soloists in 1975, and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique in 1989. He made his opera debut (1969) at London's English National Opera conducting Mozart's Magic Flute, debuted (1973) at Covent Garden with Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, and made his U.S. conducting debut (1979) leading the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He was principal conductor (1980–83) of the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, music director (1983–88) of the Opéra de Lyons, and artistic director (1981–90) of the Göttingen Handel Festival. Gardiner has also conducted many classical and romantic works, and has made hundreds of recordings. His Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven (2013) is an analysis of J. S. Bach as man and musician. Gardiner was knighted in 1998.
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