The Full Score Gardner heads to the LPO; plus, green choir launched
Orchestra names Brit as its new principal conductor to replace Jurowski
Edward Gardner has been named as the new principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The Englishman, 44, will join the Southbank-based ensemble on a five-year contract at the beginning of the 2021/22 season, taking over from Vladimir Jurowski as he adds his name to the likes of Thomas Beecham, Adrian Boult and Georg Solti in holding the prestigious post (see right).
Chief conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway since 2015, Gardner has long been tipped for a major post with one of the UK’S leading orchestras. A former chorister at Gloucester Cathedral and choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, he cut his teeth as assistant to Mark Elder at the Hallé before devoting his attention chiefly to opera as music director of Glyndebourne on Tour and, from 2007-15, English National Opera – still in his early thirties when he took on the latter role, he won plaudits for his inspirational presence in the pit during a notoriously di cult time for the company. In 2011, he was watched by millions on TV when he conducted the Last Night of The Proms.
‘I’m thrilled to have been appointed principal conductor of the LPO,’ says Gardner about his new job, which will require him to work with the orchestra for ten weeks a year, both during the regular season and on tour. ‘I worked with the orchestra early in my career and I was quite overwhelmed by the brilliance and virtuosity of the musicians. Returning to the orchestra recently I’ve felt a sense of
pleasure and privilege working with this inspiring group of musicians.’
The LPO itself has enjoyed something of a golden period under Jurowski who, since taking over in 2007, has taken the orchestra into new territory both in terms of repertoire and in its outreach work with schools and other local organisations. When he departs, the Russian will be heading o to Munich to become music director of the Bavarian State Opera. In replacing him, Gardner will become the orchestra’s first British principal or chief conductor since the end of John Pritchard’s tenure back in 1966.