Christie, William

Christie, William

(1944– ) harpsichordist, conductor; born in Buffalo, N.Y. A 1966 Harvard graduate, he studied music at Yale and taught at Dartmouth for a year before moving to France, where in the 1970s and 1980s he established himself as the leader in the field of French Baroque music. He established the ensemble Les Arts Florissants in 1978 to revive 17th- and 18th-century French music, including opera and ballet. He also taught early music at the Paris Conservatory.