2019 Awardee: Melek Ipek Vursavas
"Melek Ipek's award will help her learning environment and developing her piano skills. She thinks that without the support of the award, she would not have been able to attend this life-changing and beautiful experience."
Biography
Melek Ipek was born in Ankara, Turkey, in 2014. She grew up in a musical environment – her mother graduated from a music conservatoire and her grandfather is a musicianship manager. Melek took her first music and rhythm classes from her family members.
When Melek was four, she began taking piano lessons. Through this, her piano teacher discovered she had exceptional musical ability. She could easily understand rhythms and notes and proved herself to be a quick learner. Melek is very talented and enthusiastic about the piano and is ever growing in her abilities.
After her family moved to Scotland, Melek Ipek started school in Haghill Park Primary. She began learning the piano under her the tutelage of Ms Alina Horvath at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Early Years Music Department. At the beginning of the 2019/2020 term, she also began attending musicianship classes at the Conservatoire.
According to her lecturer, Alina; “Melek is not only able to communicate and express herself effectively in her second language English after a few months but also the language of music. She has a great understanding of musical pitch and rhythm, and she uses her knowledge efficiently in practice.
She has highly developed motoric skills with great muscular hands supporting her sensitive control over the keyboard. Her coordination skills are excellent, enabling her to put hands together easier than most of the other children at her age. Her concentration is exceedingly good, and she is confident in her performance and presence in lessons. She is not only picking up new materials rapidly on the piano, but also has a wonderful clear voice and she loves singing along with the music.
In addition to Melek’s musical qualities, she also has a positive and open personality, she is a fantastic listener and responds creatively to my ideas and suggestions. She is a self-motivated and enthusiastic child, and she is a student with high musical potential who will be able to take her talents to the next level with the support of Dewar Awards”
Melek Ipek has great promise as a pianist and aims to become a very successful musician who encourages others to get into music.
How the Award Helped
Melek Ipek’s Award supported her studies in piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
"Melek Ipek's award will help her learning environment and developing her piano skills. She thinks that without the support of the award, she would not have been able to attend this life-changing and beautiful experience."