BBC Radio Scotland Young Classical Musician of the Year 2026

BBC Radio Scotland is delighted to announce the launch of our award for young classical musicians for its third year. This award is designed to highlight the wealth of talent in Scotland’s vibrant classical scene.

The Semi-Finals took place on Sunday 22 March at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Presented by Jamie MacDougall, nine talented semi-finalists performed in front of an audience and a panel of judges in the Stevenson Hall.

The judging panel was made up of Composer and saxophonist Jay Capperauld, Director of Chapel Music at the University of St Andrews Claire Innes-Hopkins and Chief Executive and Joint Artistic Director of the Lammermuir Festival James Waters.

The three finalists are :

Pianist Anastasia-Maria Barbu, who began her studies at the age of eight in her hometown of Brasov, Romania. She is now in her final undergraduate year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Oboist Alasdair Cottee is from East Lothian and studies at the Royal Conservatoire Junior Department, is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and currently serves as Principal Oboe of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

Cellist Finn Mannion is from Crieff and is completing his Masters in Music Performance at Basel Academy of Music in Switzerland.

Grand Final

City Halls, Glasgow on the 30 May 2026. Three finalists will perform with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in front of a live audience and panel of judges.The final will be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland.

Semi-Final

A panel selected a maximum of 9 players to perform in the semi-finals at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, to an audience of friends and family.

The nine semi-finalists comprise of:

Yenglik Karassartova
Lucy Rowan
Shakira Segalla-Humbert
Anastasia-Maria Barbu
Viktor Seifert
Alasdair Cottee
Alexandru-Stefan Placinta
Cliodhna Scott
Finn Mannion

Prizes

The winner will be awarded the title of ‘BBC Radio Scotland Young Classical Musician 2026’ and a performance on BBC Radio Scotland.

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Three talented finalists joined the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andrew Gourlay to perform in this special event on June 14th 2025. Broadcast live on BBC Radio Scotland.

• Emma Baird - violin
• Ziheng Huang – alto saxophone
• Sofia Ros - Bandoneón

The 2025 award was won by Sofia Ros, full details are here.