Poland wins Eurovision Young Musicians 2016

04 September 2016 at 00:00 CEST

Poland wins the 2016 Eurovision Young Musicians. Photo: Thomas Hanses

Poland's Łukasz Dyczko has won the 18th edition of Eurovision Young Musicians. The young saxophonist performed Waignein's Rhapsody pour Saxophone alto. He was chosen as the winner by the five-member professional jury. 11 countries participated in the competition which took place in Cologne, Germany.

Poland's Łukasz Dyczko wins €10,000 and will perform a solo concert with WDR's symphony orchestra. Robert Bílý representing the Czech Republic was awarded second prize (€7,000) whilst Dominik Wagner representing Austria took third prize (€3,000).

In a change from previous years, the 2016 edition of the competition did not feature semi-finals, all 11 participating musicians performed in the Grand Final which took place in front of Cologne's cathedral.

"The Eurovision Young Musicians competition is an excellent platform for public service broadcasters to encourage young talent in classical music, and give the participants an opportunity to be seen on an international stage. Previous winners have enjoyed great success in the classical world and we wish the same for Łukasz", said Jon Ola Sand, the EBU's Head of Live Events.

Participating countries in order of appearance:

Hungary
Malta
Austria
Poland
Sweden
Slovenia
Croatia
San Marino
Germany
Czech Republic
Norway

This year will saw San Marino make its debut. The competition has been held every two years since 1982. Portugal and Poland are the only countries never to have hosted the Eurovision Song Contest but staged Eurovision Young Musicians, in 1994 and 1996 respectively. The next edition will be held in 2018.