The semi-finals will be broadcast on 13 October on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer
The six 2024 BBC Young Musician semi-finalists have been announced. They were decided following the July quarter-finals, held and recorded in Swansea and consisting of twelve musicians. The semi-finals were also recorded in July and will be broadcast on 13 October.
The semi-finalists are:
Violinist Maya Broman Crawford-Phillips (UK/Sweden, 17)
Harpist Jamaal Kashim (UK, 17)
Violinist Shlomi Shahaf (Israel, 17)
Cellist Hugo Svedbert (UK, 16)
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 will be broadcast at 7:30pm on 13 October on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. The Grand Final, which was recorded at Bristol Beacon on 24 September, will see the musicians perform a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Ben Gernon. It will be broadcast on 20 October 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. All rounds will be presented by Jess Gillam, BBC Young Musician of 2016.
Violinist Crawford-Phillips is currently studying with Akiko Ono at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey. The 17-year-old regularly performs across Europe with the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra as part of its New Generation programme. In 2019 she was selected to participate in the Young Musicians Academy run by the National Center for Music Talents in Vänersborg, and in 2024 she performed in the finals of the Polstjärne competition with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
Israeli violinist Shlomi Shahaf, 17, 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. He is now studying at the Purcell School, UK, and has performed at the Southbank Centre, St James’s Piccadilly and other UK venues.
16-year-old cellist Hugo Svedbert is originally from Bournemouth. He currently studies cello with Adrian Brendel and is a music and academic scholar at Canford School in Dorsetand in Dorset, UK. He has won the Two Moors Festival Competition, the Bromsgrove Young Musicians Senior Platform and the 2024 Swedish ‘Pole Star’ Prize. He is also a former member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
Read: My experience: Maya Crawford-Phillips, Valdres Sommersymfoni
Watch: Cellist Laura van der Heijden plays Walton in BBC Young Musician final 2012
The number one source for playing and teaching books, guides, CDs, calendars and back issues of the magazine.
In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.
The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.
The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.
No comments yet