John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943, Fontmell Magna, Dorset, England) is an English conductor, most famous for his interpretations of baroque music on period instruments. He formed the The Monteverdi Choir in 1964 and 4 years later The Monteverdi Orchestra, with whose members he founded The English Baroque Soloists in 1978. In 1989, he formed a new period instrument orchestra to perform the classical and romantic repertoire, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire Et Romantique.
Gardiner was married to violinist Elizabeth Wilcock from 1981 until 1997. In 2001, he married Isabella de Sabata.
In 2024, Gardiner stepped down as leader and artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra (which includes the choir, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique).