The Year 12 student said her classmates had been “very sweet” and watched her perform on television before warmly welcoming her back to school on Monday.
She has been studying psychology, music and English at A-level at Parmiter’s School near Watford, but said the contest had inspired her to follow a new path.
“I was planning on studying psychology and training to be a psychotherapist, but this whole experience has been incredibly inspiring and made me realise music is what I want to do most.”
Although she also plays the cello and sings, Debretzeni said she wanted to continue showing people how versatile the recorder could be.
“The recorder has always felt natural to me, like a second voice and I feel like [it is] a way of expressing emotion.”