The Gold Medal

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First broadcast on Saturday 26 September, 7pm

Instrumentalists from Guildhall School of Music & Drama compete for the School’s most prestigious music prize – rescheduled from May 2020 – performing concertos with Guildhall Symphony Orchestra.

To allow for social distancing, the musicians' performances will take place across different venues at the School, and synced using groundbreaking low latency technology.

The Gold Medal was endowed by Sir H. Dixon Kimber in 1915 and since the 1950s it has been open to singers and instrumentalists in alternate years. In 2020 it’s the turn of instrumentalists, who will perform concertos with Guildhall Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Farnes.

Previous winners of the Gold Medal include Jacqueline du Pré (1960), Tasmin Little (1986), Sir Bryn Terfel (1989) and, most recently, soprano Samantha Clarke (2019, pictured).

Programme:

Soohong Park piano
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor Op 18

Ben Tarlton cello
Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor Op 85

Ke Ma piano
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1 in B-flat minor Op 23

Jury:

Jonathan Vaughan Vice-Principal & Director of Music
Richard Farnes Conductor
Emma Bloxham Editor, BBC Radio 3
Nicholas Mathias Director, IMG Artists

During adjudication, Junior Guildhall violinist Leia Zhu performs Ravel’s Tzigane with pianist Kaoru Wada. Leia’s performance was recorded in January 2020.

The presentation of the Gold Medal will take place after Leia’s performance.

Download the full programme as a PDF