BBC Young Musician competition crowns pianist Ryan Wang

The biennial competition that counts Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti as previous victors was won by the 17-year-old Canadian for his performance of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto

The 2024 BBC Young Musician competition has been won tonight by 17-year-old pianist, Ryan Wang.

Three musicians competed in the final, in which each played a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Ben Gernon before an audience at Bristol Beacon. Joining Wang was another pianist, Jacky Zhang (also a category finalist in 2022’s competition), and violinist Shlomi Shahaf. Shahaf performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto; both pianists chose Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto – the first time in the competition’s 46-year history that the same work has featured in the final.