An internationally renowned conductor who pulled out of the BBC Proms last year after punching and slapping a soloist has started a new orchestra and choir. Sir John Eliot Gardiner apologised last August after assaulting William Thomas, 29, for allegedly entering the stage incorrectly at the Berlioz festival in France. On Monday, Gardiner, 81, announced the Constellation Choir and Constellation Orchestra, under the umbrella Springhead Constellation, which will be led by him. “Since my return to conducting in Montpellier in July, I have been deeply moved and inspired by the extremely warm and enthusiastic messages of support I have received from musicians, presenters and promoters alike,” he said. “More than anything else, I am so excited and grateful to be working with such exceptional musicians once again, not forgetting the important lessons I have learnt and needed to learn from the past year.” Gardiner withdrew from engagements and said he was seeking specialist help after hitting Thomas, an English bass who represented England in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition, at a performance of Berlioz’s Les Troyens with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir in La Côte-Saint-André. In a statement last year, Gardiner apologised unreservedly saying: “I make no excuses for my behaviour and have apologised personally to Will Thomas, for whom I have the greatest respect. I do so again, and to the other artists, for the distress that this has caused … “I know that physical violence is never acceptable and that musicians should always feel safe. I ask for your patience and understanding as I take time to reflect on my actions.” A representative for Gardiner said the conductor was suffering from extreme heat in France and suspected a recent change in his medication may have provoked behaviour he now regrets, the Slipped Disc classical music website reported at the time. In July, the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras" (MCO) board said it had decided Gardiner would not be returning to the organisation as leader and artistic director. After he left, more than 100 musicians from the orchestra asked for his return, which the MCO branded a “dirty tricks campaign” against it by a small group. Gardiner, a two-time Grammy winner, said on Monday: “I made clear when I parted company with the MCO earlier this summer that I was not in any sense ready to retire. I said I would be focusing on a rich variety of new projects.” Among the players joining his tour will be principal oboist Michael Niesemann, principal viola player Fanny Paccoud, and lead violinist Kati Debretzeni. They will perform a series of concerts at five venues in Germany, France, Austria and Luxembourg this December, before planning to tour throughout 2025 and into 2026. The tour is Gardiner’s response to direct personal invitations from the venues to assemble musicians and singers and “bring his unique style and quality of performance to their audiences”, a press release said. Gardiner was chosen by King Charles, who is a friend, to lead the first 20 minutes of music at the coronation last May.