Matei Varga

Matei Varga’s artistry has received standing ovations from audiences around the world and superlative reviews from prominent critics. Noting that “it is hard to find the right words to describe the beauty” of Mr. Varga’s playing, Corriere della Sera’s chief critic Paolo Isotta praised the young artist as a “true poet of the keyboard, a musician of depth, and a genuine artist.” Other critics have found his performances “impressive” (Gramophone, 2016), “magical” (Su?ddeutsche Zeitung, 2009), “colorful, vivacious [and] engaging” (Le Diapason, 2012).

Discovered at age 10 by soprano Mariana Nicolesco, he went on to win top prizes at the George Enescu Interna-tional Piano Competition and the International Maria Canals Piano Competition. Mr. Varga is also a recipient of the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant and a runner-up at the Vendome Prize in Lisbon, where he was singled out by Elisabeth Leonskaja who awarded him a special prize. He has appeared as a soloist and recitalist in many of the world’s leading concert halls, among them Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Auditorium du Louvre, National Center for the Performing Arts Beijing, Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Romanian Athenaeum and Radio Hall in Bucharest. He is a frequent collaborator of cellist Laura Metcalf, violinist Gregory Harrington and recently has joined star ballerina Alina Cojocaru in perfor-mances at New York City Center and Jazz at Lincoln Center.Mr.

Varga holds degrees from the Romanian National University of Music, where he studied with Sandu Sandrin, Ana Pitis and Ioana Minei, and the Mannes School of Music, where he studied with Pavlina Dokovska. He lives in New York City and is an avid collector of plush bunnies.

photo: from booklet ‘Early Departures’