Soprano Zeina Barhoum has won the Grand Prix in the Second Taras Shevchenko International Singing Competition where she sang, for the first time, Taras Shevchenko's popular folk song 'The Mighty Dnieper Roars and Bellows' in Arabic and Ukrainian.

According to the results of the competition "Zeina Barhoum was awarded the Grand Prix for the masterful embodiment of Shevchenko's spirit in her own work and popularization of the Great Kobzar's ideas." The Jordanian Soprano expressed her joy at the news, "I believe my music should embody all of that combines the idea of bridging cultures and communicating through a common human universal language. Mine being the arts and specifically music and performing arts." She also added that she has come to realize the power of the idea of 'The voice of the mind', through the teachings of her mentor Tina Ruta.

Zeina Barhoum participated in the competition in cooperation with the Ukrainian Embassy in Jordan. The international competition was organized by the International League of Mothers and Sisters - Youth of Ukraine, in cooperation with the Ukranian Ministry of Culture, the National Council of Women of Ukraine, the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater, the Taras Shevchenko National Museum, and the Knowledge Society of Ukraine.

This award comes as Soprano Zeina Barhoum is preparing to launch the first Opera Festival in the Arab world in Amman under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Muna Al Hussein. TravelTalk MEDIA and Monaco Business Development announced that the first Amman Opera Festival will debut with the full operatic production of Verdi's La Traviata on July 19 and July 22, 2017. The historic performance will take place at the 2000 year old Roman Amphitheatre in Downtown Amman.