Matei Varga

Pianist Matei Varga is an heir to the grand Romanian piano tradition but also plays the music of many other nationalities. He has made several recordings for the Sono Luminus label and is a noted educator. Varga was born in Bucharest in 1980. He attended the National University of Music in Bucharest, studying with Ana Pitis, Ioana Minei, and Sandu Sandrin. After graduating with a B.A. in 2004, Varga moved to New York. He earned a master's degree in 2006 and a professional studies diploma from Mannes College of Music, studying with Pavlina Dokovska. Varga rounded out his education with master classes and other guidance from Yefim Bronfman, Murray Perahia, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, among others. Strong competition showings boosted his young career; he won the second prize at the George Enescu Piano Competition in Bucharest, as well as a special prize for the best performance of Enescu's music, and he has continued to play music by Enescu frequently. He also took first prize at the Lory Wallfisch Piano Competition and second prizes at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the Porto International Piano Competition. In New York, Varga won the Dorothy Mackenzie Artist Recognition Award at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City and the Mannes Concerto Competition; the latter win lead to a performance of Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. He was also a finalist and runner-up at the Vendome Prize competition in France, and he has continued to be involved with that competition. Varga made his recording debut in 2003 on an audiophile audio/video DVD issued by the AIX Entertainment label. Varga has appeared widely as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber musician. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Auditorium du Louvre and Salle Gaveau in Paris, and Casals Hall in Tokyo, among other major venues. He has appeared as a soloist with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Porto National Orchestra, and the Morocco Philharmonic, among other groups, as well as with various Romanian ensembles. After joining frequent duet partner Laura Buruiana on a 2014 Coviello Classics recording of Brahms' two cello sonatas, he was signed to the Sono Luminus label and released the recital First Day with cellist Laura Metcalf in 2016. He released two more albums on Sono Luminus as a soloist, Early Departures (2018) and The Year That Never Was (2022); the latter album was an examination of the concept of salon music. Varga is on the faculty at New York's Lucy Moses Music School.
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