Mustafa Said is the first winner of the Aga Khan Music Awards performance prize. The Egyptian oud musician and composer emerged victorious among 14 other esteemed finalists, who hail from central and south east Asia, as well as the Middle East, and who all performed a 25-minute set in front of a jury of musicologists and artists. They all competed in three separate heats over the course of three days. Said’s final set consisted of two pieces, inspired by the Muwashahat music tradition, an Arabic poetic form full of refrains and running rhyme. The first rendition had him sing a Sufi poem, which dates back more than 3,000 years, to sparse yet complex oud instrumentation. The following piece saw Said pay tribute to a range of Arabic poets, from Omar Khayyam to Khalil Gibran.