Guildhall School Announces 2024 Gold Medal Recipient

Strahinja Mitrović is the first double bassist to win the Guildhall's most prestigious award

London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama recently announced that the Serbian double bassist Strahinja Mitrović is the recipient of its prestigious Gold Medal for 2024. The medal is widely regarded as the school's highest honor and is awarded to instrumentalists and singers in alternate years.

The other two finalists were harpist Heather Brooks and clarinetist Kosuke Shirai. All three players performed a concerto with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jonathan Bloxham, with Mitrović being named the winner following his performance of Nino Rota’s Divertimento Concertante.

Mitrović is in his third year at the Guildhall, where he studies with Luis Cabrera and Louise Hopkins. He has performed across 13 countries in renowned concert halls such as the Berliner Philharmonie, Munich’s Hercules Hall, London’s Barbican Hall, the Paris Philharmonie, and Brussels’ Queen Elizabeth Hall, under the batons of conductors including András Keller, Roberto González-Monjas, Kristjan Järvi, Benjamin Haemhouts, and Fuad Ibrahimov.

In 2024, the Gold Medal jury comprised the Guildhall School’s Vice-Principal & Director of Music Armin Zanner, Chief Executive of Britten Pears Arts Roger Wright CBE, Director of Maestro Arts Emma Sweetland, and Barbican’s newly appointed Head of Music Helen Wallace.

"I am really honored to be the first double bassist to win this competition since it was founded, and to have the opportunity to share the stage with my very dear friends and fellow finalists, Heather and Kosuke," Mitrović said. "It was a wonderful evening that I’ll never forget. I am thankful to the musicians in the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra and the direction of Jonathan Bloxham, all of whom provided such excellent playing and musicianship."