Conductor John Eliot Gardiner quits the choir and orchestra he founded after musician assault claim

LONDON — Renowned British conductor John Eliot Gardiner said Wednesday he is quitting the orchestra he has led for six decades, almost a year after he allegedly hit a singer backstage after a concert.

Gardiner said he was stepping down as leader and artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra “with a heavy heart.”

Gardiner, 81, allegedly hit William Thomas after the bass singer left the podium on the wrong side following a performance of Berlioz’s opera “Les Troyens” at the Festival Berlioz in La Cote-Saint-Andre in southeastern France in August 2023.

Gardiner withdrew from all his engagements soon afterwards, saying he was stepping back to get “the specialist help I recognize that I have needed for some time.”

He said Wednesday that he had “done a great deal of soul searching … and have apologized repeatedly and unreservedly for losing control in such an inappropriate fashion.”

“I have undergone extensive therapy and other counselling over the past 11 months and have learned a great deal about myself and my past behavior, but I have reached the conclusion that the best way forward for both myself and for the MCO is to accept that a clear change in our relationship is necessary now for the good of both parties,” he said.

Gardiner is a Grammy-winning baroque music conductor who has made more than 60 appearances at the BBC Proms, an annual summer classical music extravaganza.

He led the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in a performance for guests at King Charles III’s coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey in May 2023. He was knighted for his services to music in 1998.

“The Monteverdi Choir, which I founded in 1964, has been the proudest and most inspiring project of my life and I have arrived at this decision with a heavy heart after six decades of remarkable collaborative achievement,” Gardiner said.

The choir and orchestra’s board said Gardiner’s “extraordinary musical influence over the past 60 years has made a lasting impact.”

“The MCO acknowledges with gratitude his monumental contribution, and holds a deep-seated commitment to honor and preserve these phenomenal accomplishments,” it said.