(Credit: Benjamin Ealovega Photography)

Edward Gardner has been named the new music director of the Norwegian Opera and Ballet.

He will take on his new position starting on August 1, 2024. In the meantime, he will assume the position of Artistic Advisor, effective immediately. In his new position, he is set to take on a number of productions including “Un Ballo in Maschera” and “La Damnation de Faust” in the spring of 2023.

Gardner worked with the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra in a streamed version of the second act of “Tristan und Isolde” and also conducted music for the film “LISE,” starring Lise Davidsen.

“It is my great pleasure to accept the job as Music Director of the Norwegian Opera & Ballet,” Gardner stated in an official press release. “I had a fantastic collaboration with the talented musicians there over the past year, and I look forward to creating performances of the highest quality for Norwegian and international audiences in one of the world’s best opera houses.”

Gardner is the Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, a position he will vacate at the end of 2023-24 season. He has also served as music director at the English National Opera and has performed with such organizations as the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and Opéra National de Paris, among many others.