During the lockdown, Antonine University (UA) launched the very first edition of UA Talent contest. This program aimed to allow students express themselves and forget for a while the overwhelming quarantine, the fact that courses were given exclusively online, and everything they had to endure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Vice-Rectorate for Integral Human Development (VRIHD) and the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) who came up with the idea hoped UA Talent would not go unnoticed by the UA student’s community. Hopefully, the participation rate was beyond expectations; on the one hand, students were very happy to finally be able to break the routine and, on the other hand, they were thrilled to put their artistic talent forward. This is how 55 students from all faculties took part in the UA Talent contest.
Music, dancing, drawing, painting, rap and poetry... all the performing arts were represented during this artistic “playtime” which not only gave the students the opportunity to express themselves effectively, but also permitted them to showcase their hidden talents to their fellows.
On a logistic note, OSA received, from March 8 to 28, 2021, the participants’ videos via WhatsApp in which all performing arts were represented. The Office then called a jury consisting of professional artists, namely: Mazen Kiwan (dancer), Ghassan Al Rahbani (musician), Michel Hourani (actor), Nicolas El Osta (singer), and Nadia Bsat (tv reporter), in order to determine a shortlist of top fifteen candidates. This stage took place in the presence of Fr. Jean Al Alam, Vice-Rector for Integral Human Development, Ms. Joyce Abou Jaoude, Director of OSA, Mr. Brahim Samaha (OSA) and Ms. Jocelyn Saab (VRIHD).
Further to the meeting, the fifteen videos were posted on ua.studentlife – OSA’s Instagram page dedicated to students – so that UA students could vote for their favorite participants. A second ballot was held on April 19 to choose the best five videos. Voting ended on April 22 and the results were released two days later, on April 24.
Drum roll… UA Talent top three winners are:
– Salpie Torikian (856 votes) for her beautiful interpretation of Arno Babadjanian's elegy, her grandfather's absolute favorite piece of music. Not only did she win the contest, but also a 1,500,000 L.L. cash money prize as well as having the opportunity to pay tribute to the Armenian culture;
– Gabriel Harika (652 votes), a Faculty of Sport Sciences student who got as the first runner-up a 1,000,000 L.L. cash money prize for his performance in gymnastics; and last but not least,
– Marie-Joe Mansour (542 votes), another Faculty of Music and Musicology (FMM) student who reached the second runner-up position for her singing talent and received a 500,000 L.L. cash money prize.
But let’s get back to our star: Salpie Torikian. Who is this young 18-year-old pianist who is enrolled in her first year at the FMM? Well, like many artists, Salpie began playing the piano at a very young age – 6 years old! Nevertheless, her passion for the piano did not really arise before she discovered Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 72 nº 1; the beauty of this piece of music just bewitched her.
Salpie is certainly talented, she is however by no means naive. This young student of European Art Music is well aware that success does not come out of the blue; it is the fruit of perseverance and passion. As she says it herself, “my motto is Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard” before adding, “in my opinion, UA Talent is a golden opportunity for ambitious young people who are eager to attract people’s attention on their abilities. I would like to sincerely thank UA for giving me this opportunity!” As for the future, the sweet young pianist has already planned everything; “First, I want to get my Bachelor’s degree in European Art Music and Music Therapy. This field fascinates me. It is one of the reasons why I chose to study at UA... The other reason was the warm welcoming I received during the Open Doors from Dr. Nidaa Abou Mrad, FMM’s Dean. He made me realize that I really wanted to study music. Once I complete my Bachelor’s degree and my studies in piano at the Antonine School of Music, I will apply for a Master’s degree at UA, then I will travel to Europe to pursue my music studies abroad.”
We are looking forward to watching Salpie play on stage in a few years!
Check out the winners’ videos.