18-year-old violinist Sofia Demetriades has won the prestigious competition
The final round of this year’s BBC Young Musician competition took place on 15 October at the Bristol Beacon in Bristol, UK. The three finalists were accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Alpesh Chauhan.
On 1 November, the winner was declared to be violinist Sofia Demetriades, 18, following her performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. The other two finalists were saxophonist Kezia Colton, 18, and recorder player Alma Nunez Debretzeni, 17.
Demetriades has recently begun her undergraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with So-Ock Kim. Earlier this year she won the first prize at the Haslemere International String Competition, and she has attended institutions including the Kronberg Academy and IMS Prussia Cove.
‘I am so honoured and thrilled to have been a part of BBC Young Musician,’ Demetriades told the BBC. ‘I loved playing in the quarter-final on my eighteenth birthday. I didn’t think I could top that, but to go on to be crowned winner is my absolute dream!’
This year’s final was presented by Petroc Trelawny, and the jury comprised Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen. Previous string winners of the competition include violinists Nicola Benedetti and Jennifer Pike, and cellists Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Guy Johnston and Natalie Clein.
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