Edward Gardner is Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director of The Norwegian Opera and Ballet. He additionally serves as Honorary Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, following his tenure as Chief Conductor from 2015 to 2024.
Gardner opens his second season as Music Director of The Norwegian Opera and Ballet with Rusalka and concert performances of Kurtag’s Fin de Partie.In Spring 2026 he will conduct Don Carlos and Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo & Juliet.The season also includes concert performances of Wagner’s Ring without Words and next season the opera house will begin their journey towards a complete Ring cycle in the 2028/29 season.
During his fifth season with the LPO, Edward will conduct ten concerts at the Royal Festival Hall as well as five concerts in South Korea and a tour of major cities in Germany including Munich, Dresden, Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg.Highlights of their London season include Mahler’s 4th Symphony, modern classics by George Benjamin and Hans Abrahamson, a focus on central European music by Lutoslawski, Janacek, Szymanowski culminating with Bartok’s The Wooden Prince, and they close the season with a concert staging of Berg’s Wozzeck.
In demand as a guest conductor, this season he returns to several orchestras in the USA including Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony and makes his debut with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.In Europe he conducts Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, WDR Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and in Tokyo he makes his debut with Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.
In June 2025 he returned to Bayerische Staatsoper for Rusalka, following his debut with Peter Grimes in 2022 and Verdi Otello in 2023 and he will conduct several productions there in the coming seasons. In Summer 2026 he conducts a new production of Suor Angelica and La mort de Cléopâtre at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl directed by Deborah Warner.
Music Director of English National Opera for eight years (2007-15), Edward also built a strong relationship with The Metropolitan Opera with productions of Damnation of Faust, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier and Werther. Elsewhere, he has conducted at La Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra National de Paris.
“Gardner was in his element with this opulent material, and coaxed the orchestra into bringing every scintilla of nuance to this work of shifting moods, controlling tempo, dynamic and texture with fluid but commanding gestures to bring us a sensuously warm string sound, and bright, clear woodwinds.”
“Gardner’s fierce conducting and the magnificent playing is the best thing about the current performances of Dvorak’s Rusalka — a glorious score delivered with polish and passion, though there are fine voices too.”
“Gardner’s interpretation was a thing of extremes. The quiet, penumbral opening Introit seemed to hover on the verges of sound and silence. Later, the roaring brass of the Dies Irae pinned you to your seat.”
“The London Philharmonic Orchestra were conducted by Edward Gardner with aplomb and determination, while the three choirs and two soloists left the capacity audience in delighted appreciation.”
“Uniting them all, Principal Conductor Edward Gardner was in complete control of his forces, leading the LPO in a richly textured reading of the score, abundant in both detail and drama.”