Edward Gardner (conductor)

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Edward Gardner OBE (born 22 November 1974) is an English conductor. He is the principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) and, since 2022, the artistic advisor of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, where he is set to become music director in 2024. He has led the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra as principal conductor since 2013 and later as chief conductor, ending his Bergen tenure in 2024 to become honorary conductor. He served as music director of English National Opera (ENO) from 2007 to 2015 and as music director of Glyndebourne on Tour from 2004 to 2007. Earlier, he was principal guest conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (2010–2016).

Gardner was born in Gloucester and sang as a boy chorister at Gloucester Cathedral. He played piano, clarinet and organ as a youth and studied at The King's School, Gloucester, Eton College, and the University of Cambridge (as a choral scholar in King’s College Choir). He trained at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating in 2000. He began his career as Musical Director of Wokingham Choral Society (1997–2002) and worked as a repetiteur at the Salzburg Festival in 1999. He then served as an assistant conductor at The Hallé for three years.

Gardner has made many recordings for EMI Classics and Chandos, and he won the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Prize in 2005 and was named Conductor of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2008. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2012 for services to music. He has a son, Charlie, with Alison Balsom, and as of 2025 lives in London and Oslo.