Strings Final BBC Young Musician

The line-up for this year's BBC Young Musician semifinal

is almost complete -

pianist Jackie Campbell,

saxophonist Jess Gillam...

..percussionist Andrew Woolcock...

..and French horn player Ben Goldscheider

all won their categories to claim their place.

Tonight, we reach the last of the category finals

in our search for the next BBC Young Musician.

Over the past four weeks, we've had some exceptional playing

from some remarkably talented young performers.

Now, it's the turn of five string players to step into the spotlight.

But with just one place in the semifinal to play for,

there's a lot at stake.

I've been presenting BBC Young Musician since 2010,

and I'm always blown away by the standard.

This year's been no exception.

Yeah, it's been truly inspiring at times.

Since the competition began back in 1978, more string players have

gone on to win the overall title than from any other category.

Tonight, three violinists and two cellists will be hoping

to follow in some very distinguished footsteps.

In 1994, Natalie Clein became the first

of three cellists so far to win the title.

Guy Johnston followed in 2000...

..and four years ago, 15-year-old Laura Van Der Heijden

triumphed with a mature and incredibly heartfelt performance

of the Walton Cello Concerto.

She's been in demand ever since, and last month was the featured

soloist in the opening night of the inaugural BBC Proms Australia.

Violinists, meanwhile,

have taken the overall title no fewer than five times.

In 2002, Jennifer Pike won when she was just 12...

..and two years later, another classical music star

was discovered - Nicola Benedetti.

Today, Nicky performs across the globe

and works tirelessly as an advocate for classical music.

Her relationship with BBC Young Musician continues...

APPLAUSE

..in her role as competition ambassador.

Some of the UK's very finest on that list.

Now, as a trumpet player, last week I was fascinated

to hear the young players in the brass final.

Clemmie, as a violinist, you must have a bit of a soft spot

-for the strings?

-I certainly do, Ali.

I cannot wait for tonight. What's interesting about this one -

unlike some of the other categories -

they're spoilt for choice when it comes to repertoire.

They've got the riches of the musical canon at their disposal,

so I was intrigued and encouraged to see some unusual names in the mix,

composers like Prokofiev, Enescu, Ysaye

amongst the more familiar showpieces.

I totally agree, Clemmie - I think it's absolutely vital that they

choose music that lets them shine as individuals

in what is such a formidable category.

Here's the line-up for tonight.

First, it's 17-year-old violinist, Charlie Lovell-Jones from Cardiff.

'I'm so excited.

'Like, I've just been counting the days, really,'

and now I've reached zero. And it's fabulous.

I'm buzzing for this evening.

16-year-old cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason from Nottingham.

'I think, playing the cello, I change from a shy'

kind of person to express myself.

I think that's the way I do it - through the instrument.

I'm just kind of privileged to be playing

in this prestigious competition.

I'm just going to really enjoy it.

Next, from London, it's 16-year-old violinist Louisa Staples.

Oh, it's great.

It's a great opportunity to perform,

and I'm playing two pieces I really love.

Predominantly, I'm really excited.

A little bit nervous, but just generally really excited

and anticipant to compete in such a great event.

Cellist Joe Pritchard, who's 16 and comes from Somerset.

'I've been watching BBC Young Musician'

for as long as I can remember.

The list of musicians whose lives have clearly been

transformed by being part of the competition is huge.

I think I'm past surreal -

it feels more like reality now.

And completing the line-up,

16-year-old violinist Stephanie Childress from London.

'I'm so lucky to have made it through'

to this stage in the competition.

I feel so grateful, and all I want to do now is do my best.

I thought I'd be more nervous,

but I'm just really looking forward to it.

And there we have our five strings finalists.

We'll be hearing the first of them

perform in just a few moments' time.

After months of preparation -

not to mention all the years of practice -

their performance here at the Royal Welsh College of Music And Drama

could be one of the most important of their young musical lives.

Alison, you've been chatting to them all week.

How much do you think they'll be able to forget the jury,

forget the competition element, and just focus on this as a performance?

Well, I think, as this point, Clemmie, it's so important that they

just focus on what inspired them to become musicians in the first place.

And from spending this little bit of time with all five of them,

I know that they'll just want to share this incredible music

as convincingly as they possibly can.

I'm sure that's true. Sadly, only one of them

can go through to the BBC Young Musician semifinal, though.

And making that decision, it's tonight's expert jury.

They are...

'I think it has to be judged entirely on how they play tonight.'

You can't sort of look for potential -

'it has to be performance on the night.

'I suppose we're just looking for that little'

spark of something extra

that everybody will recognise when they see it.

..acclaimed soloist and leader of Aurora Orchestra.

'I'm expecting to hear five'

extremely professional and well-rounded musicians.

But what I'll be looking for, and really hoping to find,

is somebody who has got that ability to just give goose bumps to

the listener and make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

And chair of the jury...

'The ability to communicate from the stage to the audience is,

'for me, really important.

'How do you not isolate yourself,

'but at the same time create this otherworld?'

It requires the ability to really inhabit that whole space -

to really fill it with your personality.

That's what I'll be looking for.

Well, first to perform in this BBC Young Musician strings final,

it's Charlie Lovell-Jones.

CAST SINGS: One Day More from Les Miserables

Ta-da.

At Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, a Welsh language school in Cardiff,

Charlie swaps his school uniform for that of Javert in Les Miserables.

'I love Les Mis.'

You know, musicals are my guilty passion.

HE SINGS IN WELSH

'It's a great role, Javert. There's so many layers to it.'

It sort of relates a bit to music, really,

because you've got to peel the onion, you know,

and really look under the layers of the character

to be able to deliver him.

HE SINGS IN WELSH

Charlie's been performing onstage since he was very young.

Having picked up the violin age six, he went on to enjoy numerous

successes at the Eisteddfod -

Wales' artistic and cultural Festival.

It's a fantastic platform in Wales.

Every performance helps, so with regard to just going out onstage

and doing something under the public eye, it has helped massively.

APPLAUSE

Every weekend, Charlie receives lessons

from acclaimed violinist Rodney Friend.

-CHARLIE:

-He's an absolute inspiration to me,

and I don't know where I'd be without him.

He's...changed my violin playing completely.

Yeah, because you can open the voice.

Open the string more in the single note.

-CHARLIE PLAYS

-That's right.

Charlie has got lots of colours, and we work at colours, and we work

at conversation. And we work

at what is possible with the voice.

It's too thin, the sound.

You're right to be playing quietly, but it's too thin.

'Yeah, and he mops it up, and he...

'He just takes it in.'

You know, the more you give him, the happier he is.

'Violin takes up a lot of time.'

But I mean,

every millisecond is worth it.

'The goal is to be the best violinist I can be.'

So, Charlie, you've been here at the category finals

several times as an audience member.

How does it feel now to be the one who's going to be

-going up on the stage?

-Oh, I'm ecstatic.

I just remember following the competition over the years.

I've been in the audience about three times now.

Each time, there's a bigger and bigger part of me that

wanted to be up there performing, and now I finally am, so...

I am just so happy.

How did you prepare for this round of the competition?

Well, naturally, it's a lot of practice.

But it's a lot of thinking -

getting yourself in the right zone,

which is quite a task, really.

And generally just reminding myself to enjoy it.

And not sort of think,

"Uhhh!" all the time.

APPLAUSE

So here to perform

in front of a home crowd, it's Charlie Lovell-Jones.

He's going to begin with the first movement of Prokofiev's Sonata No.2.

'There's something magic about Prokofiev.

'In this piece, he combines French Impressionism'

with the deep darkness of a lot of Russian music.

'And it touches me deeply,

'so playing it every time is an experience.'

APPLAUSE

To complement the Prokofiev,

Charlie has chosen a famously demanding violin showpiece -

the Carmen Fantasie, by Franz Waxman,

based on Bizet's opera.

Carmen herself is one of the most enchanting and darkly beguiling characters in opera.

It's so much fun to interpret and put on to the violin,

which I just try to make sing and sound like this...

glorious mezzo-soprano.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

17-year-old Charlie Lovell-Jones setting the standard incredibly high

in this BBC Young Musician strings final.

His performance was incredible, staggering virtuosity in the Waxman.

Gorgeous kind of old-school sound in the Prokofiev

but I would like to have seen him

engage with the audience while he's playing.

I loved his Prokofiev, I thought it was mature beyond years, when he's

only 16, and really got into the quite difficult musical style.

I'm happy. I complete lost myself in it. It was great, I loved it.

And...erm...

I can barely get my words out... oh, my God.

Charlie absolutely brought the house down and for good reason.

I thought his technique was so superb, I was particularly taken

with his vibrato which was beautifully open, such a gorgeous tone.

Lovely bowing arm. What did you make of his programme?

There's no doubt about the fact that he's a fabulous violinist.

I wonder if maybe he played more pieces, just to show a little

more variety, I was so drawn into the detail which was,

you know, wonderful.

I wonder if he could have generated some more joy by really

taking some more risks, perhaps, but fabulous player.

And lots of risks at the end of that Carmen Fantasie, certainly.

Well, next,

we have the first of tonight's cellists in this strings final.

It's 17-year-old Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who comes from Nottingham.

CELLO PLAYS

At the Kanneh-Masons' house in Nottingham, there's never a quiet moment.

I've got one brother,

and five sisters who all play musical instruments.

As you can imagine, there's music coming from every room with us

practising or performing to each other, so it's quite noisy.

It's quite a special thing to be able to play music with my siblings,

cos I think we feed off each other's ideas.

And when you play with someone that you know so well, it's just easier.

Every Saturday, Sheku, his brother, and two of his sisters travel

to London to attend classes at the Junior Royal Academy of Music.

His big sister, Isata, is already a full-time student at the Academy.

Isata will be accompanying Sheku in the strings final.

It's really special that I get accompany Sheku.

Because we are brother and sister, we're used to coordinating,

it's easier to rehearse

and some things we don't have to say, we just can just play them

and we know what we're doing.

If Isata looks familiar,

it's because she competed in BBC Young Musician 2014.

I've watched this competition since I can remember, really,

and I've always wanted to be on it.

And then since seeing my sister on it, definitely wanted to be on it.

The cello Sheku plays is only a few years old.

Before the strings final,

he takes it for a service to the man who built it, Frank White.

-When we take this out, what sort of a length...?

-It's a bit short...

-This sort of length.

-About there.

In his retirement, Frank decided to make a few instruments and

-they turned out to be wonderful.

-Rest that on the front.

And then just tap it that way.

I can't really find the words to explain how I feel

when Sheku plays that instrument.

It's marvellous, it's wonderful.

I just love it, I could listen to it forever.

But I've always enjoyed playing the cello, ever since I started,

and that passion has just grown as I've got older,

and now I just want to do it for the rest of my life.

Sheku, who else from your family is here to support you tonight?

I've got my whole family.

My five sisters, two of which will be on stage, one page-turning

and one playing the piano.

My brother, my parents and my grandparents.

Has Isata given you any advice for this evening?

Yes, Isata is very good at telling me what I'm to expect.

And to play with her

and knowing that she's been through it is a good feeling.

What will you be feeling when you're standing at the side of the stage?

I'll just be praying that I don't mess up, I guess.

But I'll be very excited, I think.

APPLAUSE

I'm playing the 3rd movement from the suite for solo cello by Cassado.

He's a Spanish composer, a cellist himself,

so it kind of shows all the virtuosity the cello can have.

For his second piece,

the Elegie from Rachmaninov's Morceaux de Fantasie,

Sheku is joined on stage by his sister, Isata.

It's actually a piano piece and then the transcription for cello...

But I think, because Rachmaninov loved the cello, it's almost

written as if it should be for the cello.

APPLAUSE

The dark and melancholic Elegie from Rachmaninov's suite - Morceaux de Fantaisie.

To end his programme, Sheku now turns to an early work

by Shostakovich, the 2nd movement of his Cello Sonata.

The Shostakovich is just three minutes of nonstop excitement,

and the interplay between the cello and the piano is

really important in this piece.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Sheku completing his programme with a fabulous piece

by one of its favourite composers, Dmitri Shostakovich.

From his first note,

it was immediately apparent that this is an incredibly special

communicator, somebody who was really born to perform.

The room was so quiet that I didn't even dare to scratch my pencil

on the paper, he just had the whole room eating out of his hand.

I really enjoyed the whole of his performance, the sound was

so full and warm and the Rachmaninov was just so sensitive,

and all the transitions were just absolutely beautiful.

It was full of musicality and I would just love to hear him

in a concert hall.

I just really enjoyed the whole experience.

Just playing out there, you know, with my sister.

The crowd were so welcoming, so supportive,

and, you know, I just really enjoyed it.

Well, I think one of the most extraordinary thing about Sheku's

performance is that he has a massive personality onstage.

He's quite a shy young man, and yet he's enthralling when he plays.

Not only does he draw you in to the music, in such close detail,

he also sort of expands your mind and fills the hall.

His Rachmaninov really kind of undid me, that second piece.

And then we saw a completely different side of him all over again.

-Technically fantastic and, yeah, he's got it all.

-He has.

I agree with you with the Rachmaninov, actually, I think

through all these category finals, these nocturnes, elegies,

the quieter pieces have really shown the mettle of the performers.

This one was something special.

So, two very impressive performances already in the strings final,

and it's a violinist we're going to hear next -

16-year-old Louisa Staples from London.

VIOLIN PLAYS

Louisa is already a veteran at the Yehudi Menuhin School,

having earned her place when she was just eight.

The school was established by the legendary 20th-century violinist

and is today regarded as one of the world's leading music schools.

It's very busy a lot of the time, you spend a lot of time

performing, practising, rehearsing.

But generally there is a great atmosphere here,

it's really friendly and because it's so small,

it is really intimate and you know people so well.

I mean, I spend more time here than I do at home,

so it really does feel like my second family.

You are surrounded by people who have the same interests

and the same kind of way of thinking as you do.

You can learn a lot more than you think just from watching

other people, watching your friends and seeing what they do.

And someone who's been teaching Louisa since the very beginning

is Natasha Boyarsky.

We started to work together,

I could tell you that she had a very strong character.

And immediately, I could feel her musicality.

She always wanted to the one of the best.

She is always not happy with herself.

After a performance, I can come off and go kind of,

"That's as good as it could have been." But that's never good enough.

It always has to be better.

People say I'm too self-critical.

But I don't know, it's how I am, I always will be, so...

She plays very bright,

even from the first note you can feel her strong character.

I like it, you know.

I love the violin because it's a constant challenge, and it's

what makes it so interesting, that you can never perfect it.

There's always something else to do. And it seems like the lifetime isn't

long enough - to get as good as you really want to be.

-Louisa, how will it feel to face the jury?

-Slightly nerve-racking.

But I try to take nerves more as excitement, than as anxiety, really.

How important is your relationship with your accompanist?

My accompanist, I've known since I was about seven.

I been playing with her for many years.

I guess we're really good friends, we've known each other for such a long time.

It's also good because we get a lot of chance to rehearse

and we know each other so well that we feel really comfortable.

APPLAUSE

And here is Louisa, with her accompanist, Svetlana Kosen,

to perform the Impromptu Concertant by Romanian composer George Enescu.

I think it has a very French feel.

The violin mostly has these long, lyrical lines,

but the piano has these very difficult fast passages,

and it creates a very beautiful effect and also it's in a slightly

unusual key for the violin, actually.

Most concertos for the violin are written in the open string keys

but this is in G-flat major, but I think it gives it a very

special timbre, in the way it's quite intimate and very warm.

APPLAUSE

Next, Louisa's going to play a piece originally written

for the piano by Saint-Saens -

Caprice d'apres l'Etude en forme de Valse,

arranged here by the Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaye.

At its heart, it's very virtuoso,

it's designed to be technically difficult and to impress,

but also with an element of charm and very fun.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Louisa bringing her programme to a close with that

wonderful piece by Saint-Saens.

Louisa's playing is excellent, I thought

her Enescu piece was really beautifully played.

I perhaps could have done with a bit more joy in the Saint-Saens,

but, again, another really, really fine player.

It was gorgeous playing,

it was playing that you would pay a lot of money to hear

on any of the world's biggest stages and go away feeling absolutely happy.

I was very impressed.

-LOUISA:

-Oh, it was amazing out there,

you get this amazing energy from the audience,

it's such a fantastic atmosphere in there, it's really, really special.

Louisa plays with incredible polish, it's all very refined.

I would've loved to have seen her just let rip a bit more.

Ali, you're so good about talking about how these performers

really need to show us their personality, did we see enough of who she really was?

I don't know, I think...

It'll be tough for the jury because the pieces were incredibly difficult,

she has an amazing sound and she has a great technique.

I wonder, with these two pieces, whether she could've really,

really got stuck in a little bit more and also she's so good

at the violin, I would have loved to see her take some more joy in that.

Well, before we hear the last two performers in these category finals,

a quick word about the BBC Young Musician semifinal,

which you will be able to see here on BBC Four tomorrow night.

Each of our category winners will be back to perform again

in front of a new panel of judges, chaired by Dobrinka Tabakova.

The prize for three of them will be

a place in the grand final of BBC Young Musician 2016.

That's taking place at the Barbican in London on 15th May.

The three finalists will each perform a full concerto with

the BBC Symphony Orchestra,

conducted by the acclaimed maestro Mark Wigglesworth.

I think we can safely say that whatever happens, we are

in for a treat.

Absolutely, back to tonight's string final now,

and it's 16-year-old cellist Joe Pritchard.

CELLO PLAYS

Like violinist Louisa, Joe also studies at the Yehudi Menuhin specialist music school.

The cello is the nearest-sounding instrument to the human voice.

It is has such a natural tone. It is so, so warm,

yet powerful at the same time.

For the past four years, Joe's teacher has been Thomas Carroll.

He is somebody that is very good with other people.

He's somebody that really is able to connect,

and at the same time, he's very much his own musician,

has a very individual approach, which is fantastic,

and somebody who really, already at his age, has a genuine understanding

of the music and of performing and is a very natural performer.

Thomas himself competed in Young Musician back in 1990.

As an ex category finalist, he just said, "Be yourself

"when you play and when you talk,"

which...is what I'm trying to do.

Every weekend, Joe travels to his family home near Frome

in Somerset, where his musical life changes dramatically.

When I go home, it's quite different.

It is...it is like a second life.

I was given a violin, and it sat in my room doing nothing,

getting cold. And I sort of decided to pick it up one day cos

I couldn't stand it just being there.

I didn't really want it to influence my classical cello technique

too much, so I decided to turn to folk music.

My parents do a lot of it, the rest of my family does lots of it.

And in Somerset as well, there's quite a community in terms of folk music,

who, you know, just do this because they love it and actually

I found, after doing it for a while, that I started to love it too.

The cello is something that he does and everything's got to be perfect.

You're trying to play the instrument at the highest possible level

you can, but when we're playing in the pub,

it's something he can do where he doesn't have to be perfect.

There is definitely two sides to his life,

but there's a musical thread that runs through both of them, really.

I'm not sure I want to be classically restrained,

the idea of really getting out there and proving yourself

as a really well-rounded musician, I think that's what I want to do.

I want to do as much as possible

when it comes to playing the cello and music in general.

So, Joe, what do you hope to show the jury about you as a musician?

My main priority would be to portray the fact that I'm not narrow-minded

in terms of what I think of music.

Tell me how you'll be feeling

when you're standing at the side of the stage waiting to go on.

I really don't know.

Since I got that e-mail saying that I would be in the category final,

I've chopped and changed between being really nervous and being really excited.

There's no happy medium, I don't think.

In terms of how I play, I'm not worried.

In terms of how I will present myself on that stage,

in front of all those cameras, I don't know what I'm going to think.

I think the best thing I can do is embrace it.

APPLAUSE

To begin his bid for the strings title,

Joe has chosen to play a piece from the baroque period -

Viola da Gamba Sonata in D, by Bach.

It just seemed like the perfect piece to start a programme with.

It's, you know, bold but not overconfident.

There's nothing quite like how he writes in this.

The way that Bach uses counterpoint,

it really adds another dimension to harmony and how he presents ideas.

Joe continues now with a piece from the 20th century.

Originally written for the piano and arranged specially for him,

it's Debussy's Clair de Lune.

It is a beautiful example of pianistic writing

but the cello is just able to expand on this melody,

just in terms of the tone and the sound.

It is a stunningly beautiful piece of music.

APPLAUSE

Joe ends his programme now, with a very contrasting piece,

full of Mediterranean influence. It's the Lamentatio

by Sicilian composer Giovanni Sollima.

It's an amazing piece, I've never played anything like it.

It's infused with jazz and rock and folk influences

and I actually e-mailed him to get the music.

He got back to me almost straightaway,

sent the music with a long essay on the piece and his recording of it.

And he just said, "Have fun with it, make it your own," which is perfect,

cos it means I can customise it to exactly how

I want it for this competition.

HE CHANTS

HE CHANTS

HE CHANTS

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Such a bold and distinctive way to end his programme in this strings final -

Joe Pritchard with Giovanni Sollima's Lamentatio.

I enjoyed Joe's programme very much.

I thought he was maybe slightly a little nervous to begin with,

but got into the swing of things as the programme progressed.

The Debussy had some beautiful phrasing in it,

-some stunning subdued colours.

-I particularly enjoyed the Sollima.

Great piece and a great choice.

I had a bit of problem with his vibrato in the Bach,

which I felt was always the same. No vibrato, crazy vibrato.

So, that was a bit of a problem for me.

-JOE:

-It was great, I think, from the first note it just seemed like the least nervous

I've ever been for a concert.

Not what I was expecting, but it was a pleasant surprise, nonetheless.

A ravishing mini recital there from Joe.

I was transfixed, particularly in his incredible lyrical lines.

His Bach was so stylish and this last piece

was such a bold choice and I think it completely worked.

I have to say, Ali,

that I just feel that we are the beneficiaries

of the fact that this is such a strong category this year,

but my heart is breaking for them,

because on any other year I feel like any one of

the performers that we've seen could be going through,

but there can obviously only be one of them.

I absolutely loved his performance, I think

he's so sensationally musical and that just kind of...

My heart was really in my mouth. Wonderful stuff.

Yeah, absolutely amazing.

And so now we reach the last performer in the strings final -

16-year-old violinist Stephanie Childress.

CHORUS SINGS

Stephanie is an ambitious young musician.

She has already made her Proms debut as the leader

of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain,

a role she was given when she was just 15.

Last summer, the NYO all premiered Tansy Davies' piece - Re-greening,

which is an unconducted symphonic work.

I was actually directing the orchestra,

most of the orchestra relied on me to cue people in,

to make sure that everyone knew where they were in the score,

and I did a lot of head-banging to make sure that everyone

was on the same page.

And it was a fantastic experience.

THEY SING

I love playing in front of people. It's just a great experience.

VIOLINS PLAY

Although her ambition is to become a professional musician,

she also excels academically.

At 15, she made some radical decisions about her future.

I decided to leave school and to do my A-levels in a year,

so I did French, music and Russian.

I did that in order to come to Cambridge as soon as possible,

because I want to conduct in the future,

and I thought that going through Cambridge,

and actually just having a well-rounded experience of university

and of these three years in my life was going to help me

achieve my ambition.

Stephanie achieved her goal

and is now reading music at St John's College, Cambridge.

I was dazzled when she walked in, because she was so mature

and articulate and really seemed to know herself and what she wanted.

What she already has, I think, among other things, is that kind of poise

and focus that characterises professional music-making.

She doesn't simply want to play well, she wants to understand

the music and what she is getting across, how she's getting it across,

what sort of effect it has.

Stephanie is involved in several music groups at college,

but heads to London for violin lessons with the leader

of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pieter Schoeman.

I feel the A comes just

too soon after the G-Sharp.

Boom, boom!

Uh-huh.

Working with him, and learning from him has been an incredible journey

and I think we work very well together.

We could easily speak about music just all day long

but luckily she has the patience to also work on the more boring

technical side of the violin which is so important at this young age.

The competition preparation is going very well.

I'm quietly confidently working my way through everything to make

sure that everything is polished before the competition starts.

So, Stephanie, tell us about your violin.

I play a Gobetti which was made in 1710 in Venice.

It's a very dear instrument to me.

I fell in love with it from the moment I played it.

I never felt a connection with an instrument like that before,

so I knew that was the one I should be playing.

How focused and determined do you need to be to compete at this level?

I think it's all or nothing, you really have to put your life into it,

and make sure that it's what you want to do.

What would it mean to you to reach the semifinal?

Oh, reaching the semifinals would mean a lot.

It would sort of validate all those hours in the practice room,

and give me an extra push.

APPLAUSE

So, here is Stephanie to make her bid for a place in the semifinal.

She's going to begin with Eugene Ysaye's Obsession,

the 1st movement of his Sonata No.2.

Eugene Ysaye wrote it for his friend the violinist Jacques Thibaud.

For me, this piece is very interesting

because it shows two types of obsession.

It shows Ysaye's obsession with Bach as he inserts bits

from Bach's Partita in E-major throughout the movement.

But it also shows a practising violinist's frustration, I think.

When Thibaud was practising, apparently he'd often get into a rage

and sort of strum out some discordant notes and

I think that's what inspired Ysaye to write this piece, actually.

APPLAUSE

Next, Stephanie performs Zapateado by Spanish composer and violinist Pablo de Sarasate.

Zapateado actually means tap dance and zapatero means cobbler.

So I think, when I'm playing this piece, I think of someone

dancing on the street but not only dancing,

sort of stomping their feet on the ground and having fun

and hopefully the audience will have fun as well.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

In her well-contrasting four-part programme, Stephanie also performed

Faure's Apres un reve.

But to close this strings final, we'll hear her play Saints-Saens,

the 4th movement of his Sonata No.1.

The Saint-Saens is an extremely fun piece with running semiquavers,

so it's a moto perpetuum-type thing and every time those semiquavers

come back there's just an added layer of texture in the piano part.

So it's like one big, sort of growing climax.

It's such an exciting piece and I think it's a great piece

to end my programme with.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Stephanie Childress bringing the strings final to a close with a flourish.

SHE EXCLAIMS

Stephanie has just something really special.

I was very pleased that she began with the Ysaye.

The schizophrenic character of that obsession with Bach

and all of these phrases just coming in and out,

she captured that confused nature really well.

Wow, her strength is really in bravura playing -

that incredible spiccato stroke she had in the Saint-Saens,

that amazing opening with the Ysaye.

I would sometimes like to hear a little bit more humour

in her playing and I thought that in the Sarasate

there could've been a bit more lightness of touch.

It was great, it was such a nice, warm atmosphere.

I was really surprised when I walked on -

all the nerves disappeared and I just really enjoyed it.

Well, I think whatever happens tonight, one thing is

absolutely certain, a future star of classical music is born.

-Absolutely dazzling performance.

-It was absolutely sensational.

I was completely transfixed by her,

not only is she technically flawless, it seems,

she has the joy that I'm constantly searching for

when I go to a classical music performance, she is incredible.

And that wonderful quality in which she just drew the audience in

and put us at our ease as well.

An absolutely sensational category final.

We've now seen all of our 25 category finalists,

and it's been quite the competition so far, hasn't it?

It really has.

I would say that every final has had compelling musicianship in it

and particularly tonight, it's been quite extraordinary.

Four semifinalists then, already been chosen,

who is going to represent the strings?

Before we find out, here's a quick recap of their performances.

I really liked Charlie's Prokofiev, I thought

he really got into a quite difficult piece.

Mature beyond his years,

and that was a really very excellent performance.

He had a really free technique, his bowing was really light,

and almost like a folk fiddle.

It would have been great

if there was little bit more power in his sound,

but overall, a great, very comfortable performer.

I think we were all knocked for six by Sheku.

It's quite rare to hear somebody who has that communicative gift

and that ability told an audience in the palm of his hand.

Sheku was outstanding from the beginning.

I think his potential is enormous.

I enjoyed Louisa's playing enormously.

I thought the Enescu she played was one of the outstanding

performances of the evening.

She's got a very beautiful sound and is a very accomplished player.

Her sound was just gorgeous, there was never an ugly sound she made.

The only thing that was missing was joy.

It was very serious, her performance

and she could just lighten up a little bit.

Joe's performance, particularly of the Sollima, I really liked.

I thought that was great and a brave choice to sing as well as play.

So difficult to sing in tune while playing,

so I take all my hats off to him, but I feel that the first half,

the Bach and Debussy let him down a bit tonight.

Stephanie is an extraordinarily special musician

and there was a lot of passion that she performed with,

and just her delivery was so slick, so professional.

She came onstage and just looked like she was having the time of her life.

The Sarasate could have benefited from being a touch slower and having

a little bit more space in it to bring out the humour of the piece.

But she's an incredible violinist.

'It was a tremendously high standard. All of them played really well.

'It was difficult for us,

'but in the end all three of us agreed unanimously.'

APPLAUSE

Wow!

I know I say this all the time, I've been constantly

amazed by the standard of Young Musician this year.

Tonight's string final really was something else, wasn't it?

Now, please welcome back our jury -

Thomas Gould, Dobrinka Tabakova, and to make the announcement

of the winner of this year's strings category final -

Julian Lloyd Webber.

APPLAUSE

Well, as you know, we've had a fantastic evening of music-making.

I think we've seen some wonderful young musicians and, of course,

it was a difficult decision.

But in the end we felt we'd seen one really, really special talent tonight,

a big star of the future.

And the winner of BBC Young Musician 2016 strings final...

..is Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

CHEERING

Sheku just stood out. In him there was just the complete package.

Great stage presence,

amazing technique and a musicality that was so natural and it

was really enjoyable to listen to and to be part of his world.

-Sheku, how are you feeling? You must be thrilled.

-Just kind of...

-Just so happy, I've never been this happy.

-You did it, you did it.

-I did it.

-And what about playing with your sister?

-Was it just amazing to have her there on the stage?

-Really, really great, yeah.

We just both enjoyed it.

Congratulations.

And I can't wait to hear you play again.

Sheku, I'm so...!

So thrilled!

Give me hug...well done.

Brilliant.

Huge congratulations to Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

He joins Jackie, Jess, Andrew and Ben in the semifinal.

-It's quite a line-up, isn't it?

-It certainly is.

You can see their performances in full, together with those

of every category finalist at...

-You can find lots more there too.

-And do join us tomorrow night

here on BBC Four, for what promises to be an absolutely thrilling

-semifinal of BBC Young Musician 2016. For now, goodnight.

-Goodnight.

It's mind-boggling how much commitment you need to

get to this kind of level.

They are the winners of their categories,

and they're, in many ways, representing their categories.

I'd love them to vamp it up one more level and just bring

an even more spectacular performance.

Going through to the grand final are...