University News Last updated 06 March
BMus student Mario Bobotsov is one of three winners of the annual scholarship offered by the Yamaha Europe Foundation to piano students in the UK.
The Yamaha Music Europe Foundation runs an annual scholarship scheme whereby three awards are made to full time students each year. The scholarships are for solo performers with the disciplines rotating annually between piano, brass and woodwind, percussion, strings and voice. This year’s competition was for piano solo performers studying in the UK.
For pre-selection, applicants had to send a video. Two months after applying, Mario – who studies with RBC International Chair Pascal Nemirovski – was notified that his entry stood out from the high number of applications, so he was selected to perform along with nine other finalists in the final round. This took place live at the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester.
Mario performed a recital featuring works by composer, pianist and organist César Franck and composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The jury consisted of eminent piano professors Ian Jones, Graham Scott and Susan Bettany. Mario said: “I am happy to have won the Yamaha scholarship. It is a great honour, as the level of finalists was extremely high. I am happy to represent the high level of study at RBC.”
Head of the Department of Keyboard Studies Professor John Thwaites said: “This is splendid news. RBC has been privileged to welcome some outstanding piano students from Bulgaria in recent years and Mario is upholding an illustrious tradition. The Yamaha Scholarships are highly competitive and winning one at a live audition in Manchester signals just how well Mario is playing. He deserves our warmest congratulations.”