The Grand Final will be broadcast on 20 October on BBC Four, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds

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Ryan Wang, Jacky Zhang and Shlomi Sahahf. Photo: BBC Studios/Betsan Haf Evans

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The three 2024 BBC Young Musician finalists have been announced. They were decided following the semi-finals, which were held and recorded in July in Swansea and consisted of six musicians. 

The finalists are:

Violinist Shlomi Shahaf (Israel, 17)

Pianist Ryan Wang (Canada, 16) 

Pianist Jacky Zhang (UK, 16)

The semi-finals took place in July at The Great Hall, Swansea University in Wales and were broadcast on 13 October on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. The Grand Final was recorded at Bristol Beacon on 24 September and will present the three musicians performing a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Ben Gernon. Highlights from the Grand Final will be broadcast on Sunday 20 October on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer; the event will also be broadcast in full on that date on BBC Four, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.

The 2024 jury comprises trumpeter Alison Balsom, pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench and multi-instrumentalist and broadcaster Hannah Catherine Jones. Saxophonist and broadcaster Jess Gillam, BBC Young Musician of 2016, will introduce each of the finalists.

The sole string player competing for the title of BBC Young Musician 2024 is Israeli violinist Shlomi Shahaf, 17, who studied at Kyiv’s Lysenko Specialized Music School. He has played with orchestras across Ukraine and won international competitions in Poland, the UK and Belgium. Now studying at the Purcell School, UK, he has performed at the Southbank Centre, St James’s Piccadilly and other UK venues.

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