Teenage violinist wins BBC Young Musician 2026, after first all-female final

The Guardian World Sunday 01 November 2026, 21:00 UTC By Imogen Tilden 1 min read

Key Points

Judges hail Sofia Demetriades’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturityA teenage violinist has won the BBC Young Musician competition 2026, in the first all-female final in the competition’s 48-year history. The judges, Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen, hailed Sofia Demetriades’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturity.

Judges hail Sofia Demetriades’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturity

A teenage violinist has won the BBC Young Musician competition 2026, in the first all-female final in the competition’s 48-year history.

The judges, Joanna MacGregor, Ben Gernon and Errollyn Wallen, hailed Sofia Demetriades’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto as full of insights, poetry and maturity.

Sofia Demetriades (PERSON) Tchaikovsky (PERSON) Joanna MacGregor (PERSON) Ben Gernon (PERSON) Errollyn Wallen (PERSON) Sofia Demetriades’s (PERSON)

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