Christopher Gaze

Christopher Gaze was born in England and he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School before coming to Canada in 1975 where he spent three seasons at the Shaw Festival Best known as Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, Christopher Gaze has performed in England, the USA and across Canada. He moved to Vancouver in 1983 and in 1990 was appointed Artistic Director of Bard on the Beach which he has since nurtured to be one of the most successful not-for-profit Arts organizations in North America, with 2009 attendance exceeding 91,000. In addition to performing and directing for Bard, Christopher’s voice is heard regularly in cartoon series, commercials and on the radio. He also hosts Vancouver Symphony’s popular Tea & Trumpets series and their annual Christmas concerts. He has received many awards (see Acclaim). As an Olympic ambassador, Christopher was honoured to run with the Olympic flame for the 2010 Games. A popular public speaker, Christopher frequently shares his insights on Shakespeare and theatre with students, service organizations and businesses. He works with several other arts organizations, notably as host of Vancouver Symphony’s Tea & Trumpets and Christmas Concerts series, guest artist at selected Chor Leoni concerts, and as a guest host on the Knowledge Network. Christopher also works extensively as a character actor in film and radio, and he narrated the Emmy Award winning animation series Madeline. For three years he was on the Board of Tourism Vancouver, serving as the Festival and Events representative.