Karim Said - Picture (C) Allegro Films
The Enescu Society Scholarship is part of the RCI's programme to develop awareness in the UK of George Enescu's outstanding music heritage.
Launched on behalf of the Institute by Enescu's biographer and journalist Noel Malcolm at Nelly Miricioiu's Gala Concert on 4 December 2008, the scholarship will be offered from September 2009 to a student at the Royal Academy of Music - our partner in the project.
The first winner of the Enescu Society Scolarship, for the academic year 2009/10, is Karim Said who will be awarded GBP 3.145 in support of his annual tuition fee at the RAM.
The winner has been selected on the basis of the RAM recommendations of two talented young musicians: Karim Said and Marciana Buta.
Jury members: Noel Malcom - historian and biographer of the composer George Enescu; Remus Azoitei - violinist and professor at RAM, and Gabriela Massaci - Director of the Romanian Cultural Institute London.
Karim Said is a 20 year-old pianist from Jordan who joined the Royal Academy of Music in September 2007. Karim's remarkable talent was spotted at an early-age by Daniel Barenboim who has subsequently nurtured his musical development under the auspices of the West-East Divan Foundation. His work with Barenboim was followed by acclaimed documentary film-maker Christopher Nupen, over a period of six years. The resulting film, entitled Karim's Journey premiered at the Barbican in May 2008.
Karim has been the recipient of eight international awards including: 1st Prize and Star Prize, Pro Piano International Competition, Bucharest, Romania, 1998; 2nd Prize, Gradus ad Parnassum International Competition, Kaunas, Lithuania 2001; 3rd Prize, Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition, London, UK 2002; 1st Prize, Watford Festival, Watford, UK 2001; 3rd Prize, Three Rivers Young Musician of the Year, Rickmansworth, UK 2004; Special Audience Prize and additional Prize from the Chair of the Jury, Best Performance of a 20th Century Work, Weimar, Germany 2005.
The Enescu Society Scholarship aims to encourage RAM students to include works by George Enescu in their further studies and concerts. The winners become members of the Enescu Society at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.
When: 17 February 2009, for the academic year 2009/10
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute London.
