Nicola Benedetti wins Female Artist award at the Classic BRITs 2013

Nicola Benedetti has won the Classic BRIT Award for best Female Artist, beating competition from trumpeter Alison Balsom and singer Joyce DiDonato.

It's the second year in a row that Nicola Benedetti has taken the Female Artist award home, making her the most successful artist in the category's history.

Her album The Silver Violin was even a success in the pop charts on its release last year, becoming the first classical release to break the top 30 since Nigel Kennedy's Four Seasons.

She was presented by her award at the glittering Classic BRIT Awards ceremony in the Royal Albert Hall by Broadchurch actress Jodie Whittaker.

The nominees - Benedetti, soprano Joyce di Donato and trumpeter Alison Balsom - were also all nominated in the same category last year, "which means these wonderful ladies are battling it out once again," said Whittaker.

"I didn't trip this year, like last year..." she joked. "Thank you Dickon Stainer for signing me all those years ago, I've never forgotten it."

"There are centuries of music to discover," she added. "If you're watching this, here, or at home, and this is your main exposure to classical music, go and discover the rest - go and discover the symphonies of Beethoven, Sibelius, and Shostakovich!"