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Sofia Demetriades, 18, Wins BBC Young Musician 2026 With Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

The Leicestershire violinist, a first year student at the Royal Academy of Music, won the first all female final in the 48 year history of the competition at Bristol Beacon.

By Orbit Post2 min read
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Sofia Demetriades, 18, Wins BBC Young Musician 2026 With Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Key points

  • Sofia Demetriades, an 18 year old violinist from Leicestershire, has won BBC Young Musician 2026.
  • Demetriades played Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto for the final, and the performance carried the night.
  • The win also breaks a long gap for her instrument.

Sofia Demetriades, an 18 year old violinist from Leicestershire, has won BBC Young Musician 2026. Demetriades, who is in her first year of undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, won the title with a performance of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in the final at Bristol Beacon.

A winning performance of Tchaikovsky

Demetriades played Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto for the final, and the performance carried the night. The judges, Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen, praised the playing as full of insights, poetry and maturity. That praise, from a panel of working musicians, pointed to a reading that went well beyond clean technique for a player of 18.

The win also breaks a long gap for her instrument. Demetriades is the first violinist to win the competition since Nicola Benedetti in 2004, and only the sixth violinist to win it in the competition's history.

First all female final in 48 years

The 2026 final was the first all female final in the history of the competition, which was set up in 1978 and has now run for 48 years. All three finalists performed a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, at Bristol Beacon.

Saxophonist Kezia Colton, 18, performed Takashi Yoshimatsu's Cyber Bird Saxophone Concerto. Recorder player Alma Nunez Debretzeni, 17, performed Graham Fitkin's Recorder Concerto. Against that field, Demetriades and the Tchaikovsky took the trophy.

A long road from a video entry

Demetriades was one of several hundred applicants who sent in a video for the competition. Forty young players were selected for live auditions at Bath Spa University, and eight reached the quarter finals. The quarter finals took place on her 18th birthday.

She studies with So-Ock Kim, and she is now in her first year at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The path from a sent in video, through the Bath Spa auditions and the quarter finals on her birthday, ended with a concerto performance in Bristol and the title itself.

The prize and where to hear the final

The winner receives the trophy, a cash prize of 3,000 pounds towards music studies, and recording and broadcast opportunities on BBC Radio 3, including with one of the BBC ensembles.

Readers who missed the final can still hear it. The final is available on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

Timeline

  1. 1978The BBC Young Musician competition is set up.
  2. 2004Nicola Benedetti wins, the last violinist to win the competition before 2026.
  3. Nov 1, 2026Sofia Demetriades wins BBC Young Musician 2026 at Bristol Beacon with Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, in the first all female final in the competition's 48 year history.

Sources