A year later than planned, the winner of BBC Young Musician 2020 has been announced. The coveted title goes to Fang Zhang, an astonishing 17-year-old percussionist who was born in China’s Henan province and, as of September 2018, has attended Manchester’s prestigious Chetham’s School of Music. Only the second percussionist to win the competition since the category was added in 1994, he follows in the footsteps of 19-year-old American-born/UK-based pianist Lauren Zhan, who won the biennial competition in 2018. Other previous winners include cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, violinist Nicola Benedetti and pianist Martin James Bartlett.

The much-anticipated Grand Final was broadcast from Bridgewater Hall on BBC Four and BBC Radio 3 on Sunday May 2; a socially distanced BBC Philharmonic, performing with reduced numbers, and conductor Mark Wigglesworth accompanied the competition’s three finalists comprising Zhang, 18-year-old French horn player Annemarie Federle and 19-year-old oboist Ewan Millar. The judging panel included composer, clarinettist and BBC Young Musician 2006 winner Mark Simpson, composer Errollyn Wallen and BBC NOW’s Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft, and was chaired by Chief Executive of Saffron Hall Angela Dixon. 'It was a privilege to be one of the few people to hear Zhang’s performance live,' said Dixon. 'He chose to perform on a single instrument, the marimba, but elicited a kaleidoscope of colours and expression.'

Zhang, who gave a joyous, spectacular performance of Japanese composer Keiko Abe’s virtuoso Prism Rhapsody, has been performing around the world since the age of 11, courtesy of his membership of the China Youth Percussion Orchestra; he has also won prizes at competitions in the USA, Japan and his native China. 'I am honoured and delighted to win BBC Young Musician 2020, and feel so lucky considering the talent of the other finalists,' he said. 'I want to thank my schools, Chetham’s School of Music and Qingdao Percussion College, for supporting me in eery possible way.'

The BBC Young Musician 2020 Grand Final is now available on iPlayer for 12 months, and BBC Sounds for 30 days. You can watch a video of Fang Zhang performing in the semi-final below.