Proms conductor, 81, who struck singer will not return to work
Sir John Eliot Gardiner will not return to lead the musical ensembles he founded, it has been confirmed, 11 months after the conductor hit a singer backstage at a festival.
The conductor, 81, pulled out of the BBC Proms last year after striking a younger member of the Monteverdi choir following a concert in France in August.
Sir John stepped back from music while the ensembles he founded considered his “rehabilitation”, but it has now been announced that he will not return to them.
As well as the Monteverdi Choir, the renowned conductor formed the English Baroque Soloists, and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.
Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras (MCO), the company which oversees the ensembles, announced on Wednesday that the founder will not be returning to work.
A statement said the board “has made the decision that Sir John Eliot Gardiner… will not be returning to the organisation”.
It added that plans for Sir John’s future had been discussed, explaining: “The MCO did consider the possibility of a rehabilitation process – operating within the MCO’s respect and dignity at work policy.”
The company said that its “primary concern throughout has been to fully uphold values of inclusion, equality and respect for all its stakeholders”.
Sir John withdrew from all concerts to focus on his mental health after he struck William Thomas, 29, a member of his own chorus, in a furious backstage row following a performance of the opera Les Troyens (the Trojans), at the Berlioz Festival in south east France.
He called the bass a “dozy bugger” during the incident, for which he accepted full responsibility. Witnesses said at the time he had slapped and punched Mr Thomas.
Sir John, who conducted his ensembles last year at the King’s Coronation, said of his exit from the MCO: “I have done a great deal of soul searching since the deeply regrettable incident at the Festival Berlioz at La Côte-Saint-André last August and have apologised 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 behaviour, 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.
“After extensive discussions with the MCO board, I therefore feel that in the interests of the institution and its richly talented players – many of whom I value as close personal friends – the time has come for us to go our separate ways.”
Sir John added in his statement that he was “not in any sense ready to retire” and will be continuing his work as part of a “lighter, lower-pressure schedule”.