Violinist Sofia Demetriades has been named BBC Young Musician 2026 winner, taking the title at the end of the first all-female final in the competition's history. The 18-year-old from Leicestershire, in her first year of undergraduate study at the Royal Academy of Music, performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in the final at Bristol Beacon.

A first all-female final

The biennial BBC competition, the brainchild of Humphrey Burton, was set up in 1978 and is now 48 years old. Its alumni list includes Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Alison Balsom and Stephen Hough among past finalists. Nicola Benedetti, who won in 2004, was the last violinist to take the title before Demetriades.

From hundreds of applicants to the stage

Demetriades came through a field of several hundred video applicants. Forty young players were selected for live auditions at Bath Spa University, competing for eight quarter-final places - an audition that fell on her 18th birthday. In the final, the three remaining musicians each performed a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, in a concert at Bristol Beacon.

The runners-up and their concertos

The two other finalists brought works far from the standard repertoire:

• •Saxophonist Kezia Colton, 18, played Takashi Yoshimatsu's 1994 Cyber Bird Saxophone Concerto, with 2022's overall winner, percussionist Jordan Ashman, joining her onstage.
• •Recorder player Alma Nunez Debretzeni, 17, performed Graham Fitkin's Recorder Concerto, which calls for six different recorders, from a giant contrabass about 1.6 metres high up to the sopranino.

That concerto was commissioned by Debretzeni's teacher, Barbara Law, and premiered in 2017 by 2014 finalist Sophie Westbrooke. Errollyn Wallen said of Colton: "Kezia plays with incredible verve and spirit". Of Debretzeni, the judges noted her "electricity, aliveness, and beautiful intensity", and Wallen added: "She took us on a musical journey … we were inside every note".

What the judges said and what she wins

Judges Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen hailed Demetriades's Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturity. MacGregor called her a simply extraordinary musician: "She performs with her eyes, achieving dizzying technical feats but she looks as if she's enjoying it". She added that Sofia's "innate sense of colour, musical style and architecture combines with an effortless technique", and that her sensitivity and sophistication stood out in every round.

The prize is a trophy, £3,000 towards music studies, and recording and broadcast opportunities on Radio 3, including with a BBC ensemble. Demetriades said that "to go on to be crowned winner is my absolute dream", and that she hoped to play again alongside BBC NOW, Alpesh Chauhan and her fellow finalists. All three finalists will next work with Young Classical Artists Trust on managing their future careers.