John Eliot Gardiner

A brilliant and innovative English conductor who has worked with some of the world's greatest orchestras, John Eliot Gardiner has changed people's attitudes to classical music with his dynamic and even aggressive approach. The Monteverdi Choir he set up early in his career revolutionised what he believed was a complacent and bland attitude to choral singing, determined to replace technical perfection with raw passion, performing Baroque music with period instruments.

Born in Dorset in the south west of England, his love of music stemmed from singing in the local church choir. He taught himself to play violin, took up conducting at the age of 15 and studied Arabic, history and medieval Spanish at King's College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, he began his career as a conductor with a performance of Monteverdi's 'Vespro della Beata Vergine', which directly led to him forming the Monteverdi Choir, while he also toured the Middle East conducting the Oxford and Cambridge Singers.

He went on to study with Thurston Dart in London and Nadia Boulanger in Paris, made his London debut with the English National Opera, conducted the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in America and in 1968 formed the influential Monteverdi Orchestra, changing their name in 1978 to the English Baroque Soloists. He went on to become lead conductor of CBC's Vancouver Orchestra and from 1983-88 was music director of the Opéra National de Lyon and in 1990 he formed the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique playing music from the 19th century. He also had a spell as principal conductor of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra and guest conducted with leading orchestras all over the world.

Despite a reputation as a hard taskmaster with little patience for those who failed to meet his required standards, he acquired an unmatched reputation for his brilliance and vision, winning numerous awards and the admiration of leading figures in the classical world and even the royal family.