Herman Cerisha

19-year-old Herman Med Cerisha was born in Putignano, in Bari, Italy, and has been studying piano since the age of 6. In 2020, he won a scholarship to study at The Purcell School, where he is currently in Upper Sixth Form, studying piano with Professor Florian Mitrea. In 2021, he was named the Bechstein scholar student of the year.

As an 8-year-old, Herman was admitted to the top piano class at the National College of Music George Enescu in Bucharest, Romania, after obtaining full marks in the entrance exam. During his time here, he underwent rigorous training with Elisa Barzescu and had an education that was rooted in the Eastern European musical tradition.

Herman has won over 50 international competitions over the years, including “Chopin” competition junior; “Berman” competition; Orbetello competition. Following his win in the “Pianisti i Ri” competition in Kosovo in 2019, he was featured as a guest soloist in a performance with the Philarmonic of Priština, Kosovo, performing the Grieg piano concerto.

In addition to this, Herman has been invited to perform in many prestigious venues, such as the National Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Svetlanov concert hall in Moscow. He has regularly collaborated with the orchestra at the Arad Philharmonic, Romania, from 2018–2022, as a featured soloist.

Herman has had numerous masterclasses with pianists from all over the world, such as Boris Petrushansky, Dmitri Alexeev, Noriko Ogawa. He also had the honour of working with Leonid Margarius, Franco Scala and Jin Ju at the Imola Piano Academy.

This year, Herman received numerous offers and scholarships from the top conservatoires, including the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal College of Music. After much consideration, he accepted his offer from the Royal Academy of Music and is excited to begin his studies in September 2024, with a full scholarship.