Eighteen-year-old violinist Sofia Demetriades has won the BBC Young Musician 2026 competition following an all-female final at Bristol Beacon, marking the first time a violinist has taken the top prize since 2004.
The biennial competition, established in 1978 by Humphrey Burton, concluded as Demetriades claimed the title. She performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under conductor Alpesh Chauhan, winning praise from the judges for a performance full of insights, poetry, and maturity.
Demetriades studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London and with So-Ock Kim, following earlier training at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department and participation in Beare’s Chamber Music. Her victory follows a competition history that includes notable past winners such as cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, trumpeter Alison Balsom, pianist Stephen Hough, and violinist Nicola Benedetti, who last won the top prize for violin in 2004. Among the prominent classical talents whose paths Sofia Demetriades joins are 2024 BBC Young Musician winner Ryan Wang, along with renowned artists Benjamin Grosvenor, Alison Balsom, Nicola Benedetti, and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
The Historic All-Female Final at Bristol Beacon
This year’s competition marked a milestone in its 48-year run by featuring the first all-female final in its history. Demetriades competed alongside recorder player Alma Nunez Debretzeni and saxophonist Kezia Colton.
The three finalists advanced from hundreds of video applicants through live auditions at Swansea University’s Bay Campus and a semi-final broadcast on BBC Four. The final concert was recorded on October 15 at Bristol Beacon and presented across television, radio, and online platforms by Petroc Trelawny. BBC Young Musician 2026 is produced by BBC Studios Music and Entertainment Wales.
I am so honoured and thrilled to have been a part of BBC Young Musician.
Sofia Demetriades, winner
Demetriades noted that she played in the quarter-final on her 18th birthday, calling the overall experience her absolute dream.
Concerto Performances by Debretzeni and Colton
Alongside Demetriades, the two other finalists delivered complex concerto performances accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Seventeen-year-old recorder player Alma Nunez Debretzeni performed Graham Fitkin’s Recorder Concerto, a virtuosic piece spanning six different instruments from a giant contrabass to a sopranino. Judges lauded the electricity and aliveness she brought to the stage. Instruction from Catherine Gray in St Albans marked Alma’s early recorder playing days, during which her primary school years brought her first-place victories at the Watford Festival, North London Festival, and St Albans Young Musician. Between 2022 and 2024 she won the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Wind Prizes at the Junior Academy. Barbara Law, Debretzeni’s instructor, initially commissioned the piece, which received its debut performance back in 2017 courtesy of Sophie Westbrooke, a finalist in the 2004 Young Musician competition.
Before the competition I hadn’t planned on being a musician. I wanted to study psychology … but this has been so inspiring it’s made me want to pursue music. It’s been literally life-changing.
Alma Nunez Debretzeni, finalist
Eighteen-year-old saxophonist Kezia Colton performed Takashi Yoshimatsu’s Cyber Bird Saxophone Concerto. Having previously undertaken studies at the Royal College of Music Junior Department in London, Colton recently embarked on a program at the CRR Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Paris – Ida Rubinstein. Judges described Colton’s playing as sassy, cool, and backed by incredible verve and spirit.
Judging Panel and Career Launchpad
The performances were evaluated by a three-person jury consisting of pianist and composer Joanna MacGregor, conductor Ben Gernon, and composer Errollyn Wallen, who serves as the Master of the King’s Music. MacGregor praised Demetriades’s effortless technique and sensitivity across every round of the competition. The judges hailed the electricity, aliveness, and beautiful intensity that Debretzeni brought to Fitkin’s concerto.
As part of their ongoing career development, all three finalists will work with the Young Classical Artists Trust to manage their professional trajectories. Audiences can view the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final on BBC iPlayer and listen to broadcasts across BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.
