Violinist Sofia Demetriades, 18, has won BBC Young Musician after performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto at Bristol Beacon. It was the first all-female final in the competition’s 48-year history. The winner receives support for her musical studies and recording opportunities, while all three finalists gain career management support as they continue their training.
Arts··Evening
Tchaikovsky brings Demetriades the title
Violinist Sofia Demetriades has won BBC Young Musician.[1], [2]
The 18-year-old from Leicestershire began studying music in London. She played Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in the final at Bristol Beacon. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales accompanied the finalists under conductor Alpesh Chauhan. Judges Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen praised her musical insight and maturity. Demetriades has begun undergraduate study at London’s Royal Academy of Music.[1]
The first all-female final spans three instruments
For the first time in the competition’s 48-year history, all three finalists were women. Saxophonist Kezia Colton, 18, performed Takashi Yoshimatsu’s Cyber Bird Saxophone Concerto. Recorder player Alma Nunez Debretzeni, 17, chose Graham Fitkin’s Recorder Concerto, which uses six instruments ranging from contrabass to sopranino. Percussionist Jordan Ashman, the 2022 winner, joined Colton for the Yoshimatsu work.[1]
Study and career support follow the final
Demetriades receives 3,000 pounds towards musical studies plus recording and broadcast opportunities on BBC Radio 3. All three finalists gain career management support from Young Classical Artists Trust, an organisation supporting emerging musicians. She advanced from hundreds of video applications through auditions at Bath Spa University, where forty musicians competed for eight quarter-final places. Founded in 1978, the biennial competition last had a violinist winner in 2004, Nicola Benedetti.[1]
