Edward Gardner

Edward Gardner has been Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since September 2021.

Edward is also Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, a position he will relinquish at the end of the 2023/24 season. From August 2024 he will undertake the Music Directorship of the Norwegian Opera and Ballet, having been their Artistic Advisor since February 2022.

LPO highlights this season

During the 2023/24 season Edward will conduct the LPO in ten concerts at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, including the season-opener of Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony. He will also tour with the Orchestra to South Korea, Taiwan, and major European cities including Paris, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Bruges. As part of the LPO’s cross-arts festival ‘The Music in You’ in spring 2024, Edward will conduct concerts including Haydn’s The Creation; a reinvention of Szymanowski’s ballet Harnasie in collaboration with choreographer Wayne McGregor; Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins; and Mozart’s Mass in C minor. Other highlights with the Orchestra this season include Holst’s The Planets and Stravinsky’s Petrushka.

Last season

Edward opened the LPO’s 2022/23 season with Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, bringing the Orchestra and soloists together with the London Philharmonic Choir and London Symphony Chorus. Other highlights of the season included Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, an Elgar symphony cycle and Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust, as well as tours throughout the UK, Benelux and Germany and a BBC Proms concert.

Supporting young talent

A passionate supporter of young talent, Edward founded the Hallé Youth Orchestra in 2002 and regularly conducts the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He has a close relationship with The Juilliard School of Music, and with the Royal Academy of Music who appointed him their inaugural Sir Charles Mackerras Conducting Chair in 2014.

Background

Born in Gloucester in 1974, Edward was educated at the University of Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music. He went on to become Assistant Conductor of the Hallé and Music Director of Glyndebourne Touring Opera. His many accolades include being named Royal Philharmonic Society Award Conductor of the Year (2008), an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera (2009) and an OBE for Services to Music in The Queen’s Birthday Honours (2012).

Edward Gardner’s position at the LPO is generously supported by Aud Jebsen.

Photo © Photographer London