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17
O
n 16 September, the 2011 Nemitsas Prize
for Excellence in the Arts and Sciences
was awarded to pianists Cyprien Katsaris and
Martino Tirimo. The award ceremony took
place at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia,
where the President of the Republic Demetris
Christofias conferred this prestigious honour of
international stature on the two laureates.
Following the first awards for Medical Sci-
ences in November 2010, the Takis & Louki
Nemitsas Foundation managed, within ten
months, to complete the necessary procedures
to recognise excellence in a very different field,
the Arts. Katsaris and Tirimo are acclaimed pia-
nists whose performances delight and thrill any
audience fortunate enough to hear them play –
they have made Cyprus known across the world
through classical music. The Prize was given
equally to both piano virtuosos “because in art,
and particularly in music, every creator has his
own particular gifts with which he enchants and
speaks to the soul of each and every one of us”.
President Christofias addressed the award
ceremony, as did Nemitsas Foundation board
member Eleftherios P. Ioannou and Chairman
of the Foundation Takis Nemitsas. President
Christofias presented the awards; the presenta-
tion was followed by individual performances
by both pianists.
During his speech, the President remarked:
An awards ceremony of two prominent
citizens and artists and such similar events
are a small oasis in the desert created by
the worldwide crisis of institutions and
values…[Katsaris and Tirimo] embody the
ideals of the artist, in the ancient sense, as
The Nemitsas Prize for Excellence
in the Arts and Sciences 2011
President Christofias awards Martino Tirimo and Cyprien Katsaris