First 'Enrique Iglesias Scholarship' Goes To 23-Year-Old Mexican Sax Player

Silvana Itzel Salinas is the first recipient of the “Enrique Iglesias Scholarship” given by the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation. The 23-year-old Mexican sax player, who will be attending Berklee College of Music, said she wasn´t expecting this to happen to her:

“I never imagined to be the winner because I know there are a lot of talented people in Latin America that also deserve this opportunity. But when I knew, I couldn’t believe it, because studying at Berklee has always been my personal dream since I started playing the saxophone. I feel very grateful with everything that the Latin Grammy Foundation has done, and Enrique Iglesias for helping me with my personal formation, and my dream of becoming a great jazz player.”

Enrique Iglesias and Gabriel Abaroa Jr., President of the Latin Recording Academy, were present during the ceremony which occurred in Miami Beach, and personally handed the scholarship to Salinas, who received 200, 000 USD which will be delivered to the musician in four annual payments of 50,000 USD in order to cover her tuition at the prestigious music college.

Iglesias mentioned he felt very honored and proud to be able to participate as a helpful mentor in the career of Salinas, and many other Latino musicians in the future: “For me, personally, it is a very important moment because in 40 years I will look back, and analyze my career, and this will be one of the most important moments because it will mean that I helped someone’s dream come true.”

In other declarations published by The Associated Press, the Spanish singer shared that he is in talks with the Latin Grammy Foundation about the possibility to give away more scholarships to talented Latin Musicians who want to fulfill their dream of studying at Berklee College of Music.