Three string players or groups are among the seven winners
BBC Radio 3 has announced its 2026–2028 cohort of New Generation Artists. Two string players and a quartet are among the seven named: Brazilian violinist Guido Sant’Anna, Norwegian–Swedish string quartet Opus13 and Chinese cellist Yibai Chen. The BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme supports young musicians on the threshold of an international career to reach the next stage of their development.
Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Guido Sant’Anna was the first South American violinist to win the Fritz Kreisler International Competition. He currently studies at the Kronberg Academy under Mihaela Martin.
Sant’Anna has performed in festivals including Kissinger Sommer, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, stARTfestival and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. His 2025–26 season includes performances with the Münchner Symphoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Grand Rapids Symphony, among others.
Opus13 comprises Norwegian violinists Sonoko Miriam Welde and Edvard Erdal, violist Albin Uusijärvi and cellist Daniel Thorell, both from Sweden. The group has won both the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition and Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. In 2026 the quartet was named a recipient of the Borletti–Buitoni Trust Award.
Performing highlights include concerts at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Essen Philharmonie, Rotterdam De Doelen and Stockholm Konserthus. The group has collaborated with artists such as Janine Jansen, Leif Ove Andsnes, Tabea Zimmermann and Anne Sofie von Otter.
Chinese cellist Yibai Chen was a prizewinner at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition, George Enescu Cello Competition and Tchaikovsky Cello Competition. He has performed with orchestras including the Brussels Philharmonic, Basel Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, Janáček Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic, Guangzhou Symphony, George Enescu Philharmonic and St Petersburg Philharmonic.
He has appeared at the George Enescu Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and performed with artists such as Arabella Steinbacher, Benjamin Beilman, Ning Feng, Paul Huang, Nils Mönkemeyer, Sarah McElravy and Martin Helmchen.
The BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme, founded in 1999, selects six or seven artists each year for a two‑year programme beginning in the autumn. The artists are given opportunities such as concerts in London and around the UK, appearances and recordings with the BBC performing groups, studio recordings for Radio 3 and the possibility of appearing at the BBC Proms.
The other New Generation Artists are Scottish–Indian guitarist Samrat Majumder, Austrian mezzo-soprano Anja Mittermüller, Austrian Gugg Piano Duo and British jazz pianist Sultan Stevenson.
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