Matei Varga
President, Romanian Section of the International Society of Pianists and Composers

Matei Varga is a fresh and exciting new presence in the piano world. Already established as one of the leading young pianists of his native Romania, his prodigious talent is fast becoming recognized in the United States and Europe. Born in October, 1980 in Bucharest, his career was effectively launched at age ten, when he won First Prize in both the solo and orchestral concerto categories of the "Citta Di Moncalieri" Competition (Torino, Italy), competing against pianists three times his age.

Most recently, Mr. Varga received the 2008 "Salon de Virtuosi" Career Grant, the Dorothy Mackenzie Artist Recognition Award at the 2007 International Keyboard Institute and Festival at Mannes College, and was Second Prize winner at the 2007-08 Young Concert Artists International Competition. In February 2005 he won the Mannes Concerto Competition and consequently performed the Chopin second piano concerto on March 3, 2006 at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall under Otto-Werner Mueller.

Mr. Varga was recipient of the Third Prize at the 2004 Maria Canals International Music Competition (Barcelona, Spain), and a Special Prize awarded by Elisabeth Leonskaja at The Vendome Prize 2003 Piano Competition held in Vienna, London, and Lisbon. Other significant awards include Second Prize at both the 2002 Cidade do Porto International Competition (Porto, Portugal) and the 2001 George Enescu International Piano Competition (Romania), as well as First Prize at the 2001 Lory Wallfisch Piano Competition (Romania).

In addition to his numerous appearances in Romania, Mr. Varga has performed as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist at major venues in New York (Zankel Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, Morgan Library), Washington D.C. (The White House Lawn), Montreal, Paris (Salle Gaveau, Salle Cortot, the Auditorium du Louvre), Stockholm, Baden-Baden, Grenoble, Venice (Fondazione Cini), Tokyo (Casals Hall), Kyoto, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. He has also participated in various prestigious music festivals, including Festival de Sintra (Portugal); Festival dei Due Mondi (Spoleto, Italy); Mostly Tchaikovsky (Des Moines, USA); Octobre Musical de Carthage (Tunis), and the George Enescu International Festival (Bucharest).

As soloist with orchestra, Mr. Varga has appeared with the "George Enescu" Philharmonic, Romanian National Radio Orchestra, and Chamber Radio Orchestra, Morocco Philharmonic, Porto Philharmonic (Portugal), and Orquestra Simfonica del Valles (Spain). His discography includes two DVD releases: "Mozart and Schumann" and "Mixtures I: A Classical Surround Sampler", both on AIX Records.

Mr. Varga has participated in Master Classes presented by Claude Frank, Richard Goode, Jacob Lateiner, Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Raoul Sosa, and Jean Yves Thibaudet. After graduating in 1999 from the "Dinu Lipatti" High School of Music in Bucharest, he went on to receive his Bachelors degree from the Romanian National University of Music in 2004, where he studied with Ana Pitis, Ioana Minei and Sandu Sandrin. He received a Master of Music degree (2006) and a Professional Studies Diploma (2008) from New York's Mannes College of Music, where he studied with internationally acclaimed Bulgarian pianist Pavlina Dokovska.

In May 2008, Mr. Varga was named Project Manager of the Vendome Prize Piano Competition.

Written by David Ames