BBC Young Musician of the Year Announces 2024 Finalists 

Three young musicians have been selected to perform in the finals with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales 

Founded in 1978, the BBC Young Musician competition is held biennially to celebrate the UK’s most promising classical musicians. Past winners have included Sheku-Kanneh Mason, Nicola Benedetti, and VC Artist Jennifer Pike.

This year’s three finalists are violinist Shlomi Shahaf and pianist Ryan Wang, who are both 17 years old, and pianist Jacky Zhang who is aged 16. 

They were selected from a pool of six semi-finalists, who performed live at The Great Hall, Swansea University.  

Born in Israel and raised in Ukraine, Shahaf is currently studying at the Purcell School; Wang is from Vancouver Canada, and holds a music scholarship at Eton College; Hailing from Surrey, England, Zhang is currently a composition student at London’s Royal College of Music. 15

The three finalists will perform their respective concertos with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Ben Gernon. 

To be filmed at Bristol Beacon, the Grand Final will be broadcast on BBC Two and iPlayer on October 20, 2024.  

The 2024 jury includes trumpeter Alison Balsom, pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench, and multi-instrumentalist and broadcaster Hannah Catherine Jones.