NICOLA Benedetti, the Ayrshire-born violinist, finally picked up her first-ever Classical Brit award last night after being named Young British Classical Performer.

Although the 21-year-old has been nominated five times, including twice previously for Young British Classical Performer, this is her first win.

Other winners at the Royal Albert Hall awards ceremony included Blake, the former choirboys who formed on social networking site Facebook.

The quartet, made up of Ollie Baines, Stephen Bowman, Jules Knight and Dom Tighe, are only the second act in the history of the prize to win Album of the Year for a debut work.

The classical boyband signed a £1m, five-album deal with record label Universal last summer.

Benedetti signed a five-album deal with Deutsche Gramophone/Universal at the age of 16.

Her debut album featured Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, the work which catapulted her to nationwide fame after she performed it to win the title of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004.

Russian singer Anna Netrebko won Female Artist of the Year and was presented with the award by Scots singer-songwriter Annie Lennox.

Netrebko, who has been described as the "greatest living soprano", was named Singer of the Year in 2007.

Conductor Sir Colin Davis, president of the London Symphony Orchestra, won Male Artist of the Year.

Cellist Steven Isserlis was presented with the Critics' Choice award by actor Brian Blessed, while winner of the Soundtrack of the Year was James Newton Howard for Blood Diamond, the thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

ITV chairman Michael Grade presented Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber with a special award for Outstanding Achievement In Music, almost 25 years since the theatre impresario composed his Grammy-winning Requiem Mass.