Teen recorder player runner-up in BBC Young Musician

Summarised from BBC Beds Bucks And Herts's report · Updated 4 Nov, 06:17 · Archive

A 17-year-old from St Albans was runner-up in the BBC Young Musician 2026 final playing the recorder.

Alma Nunez Debretzeni, a Year 12 student at Parmiter's School near Watford, was one of three finalists in the BBC Young Musician 2026 competition on Sunday. She performed Graham Fitkin's Recorder Concerto in the final, which was won by 18-year-old violinist Sofia Demetriades.

Debretzeni said she wanted to challenge the perception of the recorder as 'a beginner's instrument or a primary school one'. She said people were often surprised by what the instrument could do. Although she also plays the cello and sings, she said the recorder 'has always felt natural to me, like a second voice and I feel like [it is] a way of expressing emotion'.

The competition inspired her to pursue music rather than her previous plan to study psychology and train as a psychotherapist. Her classmates welcomed her back to school warmly after watching her perform on television.

Read the report

• Teen musician is flying the flag for the recorderAlma Nunez Debretzeni says "people have a stereotype that it's a beginner's instrument".BBC Beds Bucks And Herts · 4 Nov, 05:52

In this story: Alma Nunez Debretzenti · Sofia Demetriades · St Albans · BBC Young Musician

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