15-year-old Sein An from the USA won the Grand Prize 'Remember Enescu', as well as the First Prize for Category B - 13-17 years old. With her first win in an international competition, the Asian-born musician impressed the jury with her brilliant violin skills, her fiery temperament, which showed in Wieniawski's Polonaise brillante No. 1 and in Mendelssohn's Concerto, and last but not least, with her performance that was very close to Enescu's style - in the Impromptu concertant. Thus Sein An was awarded the highest distinction of the competition, 5000 euro offered by Mrs Catia Rădulescu, a very generous lady who loves music and wishes to encourage young violinists. She was the one who also offered the jury and the organizers another important prize - a violin by Romanian violin maker Eugen Ceaicovski, made in 1973, an instrument from Mrs Rădulescu's private collection, restored by Silvian Rusu and with an estimated value of 2000 euro. This violin left Romania, too, being awarded to another American student, Samuel Nebyu, who received the First Prize for Category C - 17-22 years old.

I would also like to mention the participation of 17-year-old violinist Dan Iulian Druţac from the Republic of Moldova, who excited both the jury, who placed him second in Category C, and the audience, who had free entrance at the three-day competition. This took place in a very appropriate setting for a competition trying to keep George Enescu's creation alive in the memory of young musicians, namely at the Luminiş Villa - the memorial house of the composers in the Cumpătu district in Sinaia, as well as at the Gala of the competition that took place in the concert hall of the Peleş Castle. I would like to add that Dan Iulian Druţac also received a special prize awarded by Radio Romania Music, a recording session in the Radio Romania studios, so I hope that soon enough our listeners will be able to convince themselves of this young violinist's talent, who showed extraordinary skill, great force of expression and deep understanding of the musical text when he played works such as The Fiddler, from the Impressions of Childhood suite by George Enescu, and the Ballade Sonata by Ysaye or theViolin concerto in D minor by Khatchaturian.

Among the winners of the 16^th edition of the International Competition 'Remember Enescu' were thus musicians from the USA, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, as well as from Bulgaria, Lithuania and Ukraine, who received several cash prizes and Enescu sheet music - from the main organizer, the Cultural Foundation 'Remember Enescu', managed by famous violin teacher Mihaela Tomescu, and from the National Museum 'George Enescu', the event's co-organiser - as well as other special prizes, offered by the competition's partners. The sheet music that was awarded included concertos and recitals offered by the Philharmonics in Satu Mare, Râmnicu Vâlcea and Bacău, as well as sheet music from the Romanian Cultural Institute, CDs and Romanian music scores offered by the Union of Composers and Musicologists of Romania etc.

The jury that appreciated the performance of over 40 competitiors from 9 countries was led by violinist and composer Eduard Schmieder - professor at the Temple University of Philadelphia, and consisted of two other foreign violinists - Jakob Gilman from Germany and Conrad Chow from Canada, two Romanian elite musicians whom you certainly have heard of - violinist Rudolf Fatyol, director of the 'Dinu Lipatti' Philharmonic in Satu Mare, and the permanent conductor of the 'Banatul' Philharmonic in Timişoara, Radu Popa.

The conception and organisation of the competition was once again the doing of its director - violinist Alexandru Tomescu who will leave for the sixth Stradivarius national tour on 10^th May.

The next edition of the International Competition 'Remember Enescu' will take place two years from now, in Sinaia, between 4^th and 9^th May, because the organizers wish that it should always be around the day of 4^th May, when our great musician George Enescu passed away. Violinists have thus enough time to prepare their repertoire and brace for the event, which I think is the most important international violin competition in our country.