Sofia Demetriades, an 18-year-old British Cypriot violinist, won BBC Young Musician 2026 with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on Sunday, 1 November.
She performed with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, in the first all-female final in the competition’s 48-year history. She competed against 18-year-old saxophonist Kezia Colton and a 17-year-old recorder player.
The judges praised her technical polish and the maturity of her playing. Pianist and jury member Joanna MacGregor described Demetriades as a truly exceptional musician with an innate sense of colour, musical style and architecture, and said her sensitivity and refined musicianship stood out at every stage of the competition.
Demetriades said she was honoured and thrilled to have taken part. She said she had loved playing in the quarter-final on her 18th birthday and had not thought she could top that, “but to go on to be crowned winner is my absolute dream”.
She receives 3,000 pounds towards her music studies, as well as recording and broadcast opportunities through BBC Radio 3. All three finalists will work with the Young Classical Artists Trust, which will support them in managing and developing their careers.
Several hundred young musicians applied by video. Forty were chosen for live auditions at Bath Spa University, and eight went through to the quarter-finals.
Born and raised in Leicestershire, Demetriades is in the first year of her undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she previously attended the Junior Academy. She studies with violinist So-Ock Kim.
She won first prize at the Lipinski-Wieniawski competition in Poland in 2024 and has also received awards at the Haslemere International String Competition. She has performed as a soloist in the UK, Europe and Canada.
BBC Young Musician was founded in 1978 by Humphrey Burton and is held every two years. Musicians who have come through it include cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, trumpeter Alison Balsom, pianist Stephen Hough and violinist Nicola Benedetti, the last violinist to win, in 2004.
(Information from BBC News)
