In an interview with the A.A, Say said that he was honored with the award which was earlier given to leading musicians such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Marc Minkowski, Andras Schiff and Anne Sofie von Otter.

Say will attend the award ceremony in Germany on September 20th.

Meanwhile, Say's new album "1001 Nights in a Harem" will be released worldwide by French Naive and Japanese Avex in December. The album includes Say's first violin concerto. The concerto was performed by Patricia Kopachinskaya.

Say will give concerts in Germany, Italy, Israel, Switzerland and Japan till the end of the year.

Born in Ankara in 1970, Say studied piano and composition at the Ankara State Conservatory. At the age of seventeen, he was awarded a German Academic Exchange Service scholarship that enabled him to study for five years with David Levine and the Robert Schumann Institute in Dusseldorf, Germany. From 1992 to 1995, he continued his studies at the Berlin Conservatory. In 1994, he was the winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, which gave a rapid start to his international career.

AA