Clive Gillinson was born in Bangalore, India, in 1946; his mother was a professional cellist and his father, a businessman, also wrote and painted. Sir Clive began studying the cello at the age of eleven and played in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He went to Queen Mary, London to study mathematics, but realising that he wanted to make music his life, entered the Royal Academy of Music, where he gained a Recital Diploma and won the top cello prize. He joined the London Symphony Orchestra cello section in 1970 and was elected to the Board of Directors of the self-governing orchestra in 1976, also serving as Finance Director. In 1984 he was asked by the Board to become Managing Director of the LSO.

Under Sir Clive's leadership, the LSO has initiated some of London's most innovative and successful artistic festivals and themed projects, working with many of today's great artists. In the international touring arena, the LSO has established an annual residency in New York and in 1990 was a founding partner in the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Sir Clive's passionate belief has been to take great music to society at large. In this area, his initiatives have included the LSO Discovery programme which reaches out to over 30,000 people of all ages and is based in an 18th Century re-constructed church, LSO St Luke's; and establishing LSO Live, the orchestra's own award-winning and highly successful international CD label.

In July 2005, Sir Clive Gillinson became Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall in New York, one of the world's leading arts institutions. Sir Clive has served as Chairman of the Association of British Orchestras; was one of the founding Trustees of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts; and was founding Chairman of the Management Committee of the Clore Leadership Programme. Sir Clive was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in the 1999 New Year Honours List, and a knighthood in the 2005 Birthday Honours List.

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