(Credit: Chris Christodoulou)

Vladimir Jurowski has received the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, one of the highest international honors in music.

The conductor received the medal on August 12 following a performance at the BBC Proms. RPS Chairman John Gilhooly gave the medal to Jurowsk at the end of a performance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

As Gilhooly gave the medal to Jurowski, he said, “You have brought revelatory energy to the UK stage through your acclaimed associations with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, with Glyndebourne, and of course with your sterling companions of the London Philharmonic Orchestra as Principal Conductor. You have revolutionised what that term means, investing limitless invention in every step of the creative journey. As we are witnessing tonight, you are a world-class musical storyteller, conjuring drama and magic with your orchestral colleagues.”

Jurowski becomes one of the many great artists to receive the distinction which has been given since 1871 and is awarded for the most outstanding musicianship to the finest musicians of any nationality.

Past recipients include Brahms, Elgar, Stravinsky, Bernstein, John Barbirolli, Kathleen Ferrier, and more recently Jessye Norman, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Dame Janet Baker, and Dame Mitsuko Uchida. The most recent recipient was composer John Williams in November 2020.

Jurowski receives the Gold Medal as he concludes a near-15-year tenure as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and is set to take up the role of General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper.