A teenage violinist has won the BBC Young Musician competition ۲۰۲۶, in the first all-female final in the competition’s ۴۸-year history.
The judges, Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen, hailed Sofia Demetriades’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturity.
The ۱۸-year-old is from Leicestershire, and in her first year of undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music.
The brainchild of Humphrey Burton, the biennial BBC competition was set up in ۱۹۷۸ and has produced finalists such as Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Alison Balsom, Stephen Hough and, in ۲۰۰۴, Nicola Benedetti, who was the last violinist to win.
Demetriades was one of several hundred to send in a video application, before ۴۰ young players were selected to attend live auditions in Bath Spa University to gain one of eight places in the quarter-finals – which took place on Demetriades’ ۱۸th birthday. Among her fellow quarter-finalists was the first accordion player to reach the final stages, ۱۴-year-old Sylvester Maschi.
Each of the three finalists performed a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan in a concert at Bristol Beacon. An ۱۸-year-old saxophone player, Kezia Colton, performed Takashi Yoshimatsu’s ۱۹۹۴ Cyber Bird Saxophone Concerto, while ۱۷-year-old recorder player Alma Nunez Debretzeni played Graham Fitkin’s Recorder Concerto.
Fitkin’s virtuosic concerto involves six different recorders, ranging from the giant contrabass, about ۱.۶ metres high, to the tiniest sopranino. It was originally commissioned by Debretzeni’s teacher, Barbara Law, and it was given its premiere performance in ۲۰۱۷ by ۲۰۱۴’s Young Musician finalist, Sophie Westbrooke. And there was a further connection this year to previous competitions – ۲۰۲۲’s overall winner, the percussionist Jordan Ashman, joined Kezia Colton onstage for Yoshimatsu’s concerto.
“Kezia plays with incredible verve and spirit, said Wallen. “Her performance was sassy and cool,” said Gernon, “but her more intimate playing is incredibly strong too.”
The judges hailed the “electricity, aliveness, and beautiful intensity” that Debretzeni brought to Fitkin’s concerto. “She took us on a musical journey … we were inside every note,” said Wallen.
“Before the competition I hadn’t planned on being a musician,” said Debretzeni. “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.”
Demetriades was acclaimed as a simply extraordinary musician by MacGregor. “She performs with her eyes, achieving dizzying technical feats but she looks as if she’s enjoying it,” she said.
“Sofia’s innate sense of colour, musical style and architecture combines with an effortless technique, and a joy for whatever music she’s playing. In a competition full of gifted and dedicated young musicians, Sofia’s sensitivity and sophistication stood out in every round. I’m very excited to watch her musicianship develop even further in the years ahead.”
The winner receives the trophy, a cash prize of £۳,۰۰۰ towards music studies as well as recording and broadcast opportunities on Radio ۳, including with one of the BBC ensembles. All three finalists will work with Young Classical Artists Trust on managing their future careers.
“I am so honoured and thrilled to have been a part of BBC Young Musician,” said Demetriades. “I loved playing in the quarter-final on my ۱۸th birthday. I didn’t think I could top that, but to go on to be crowned winner is my absolute dream! It was pure delight to share the stage with BBC NOW, Alpesh Chauhan and my fellow finalists – I really hope to play alongside them again soon.”
