During the George Enescu Concerts Series that takes place at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London, the musician of the month will be the pianist Matei Serban Rogoz. He will hold a recital in the chamber music hall in Belgrave Square on the evening of 3^rd April, 2014. Graduate of the Dinu Lipatti National College of Arts and the National University of Music in Bucharest, Matei Rogoz completed his music education at the National School of Music in Paris, under the guidance of Professor François Thinat. His doctoral dissertation, presented at the University of Bucharest is entitled the Piano Sonata: the 18^th and 19^th Centuries. Stylistic and Interpretive Features, revealing the musician’s preoccupation with the aesthetics of music.

Mr. Matei Rogoz, thank you for agreeing to provide us with more information about the recital which you will hold at the Romanian Cultural Institute in London this evening. What does this concert mean to you?

Any recital is very important to me and I try to enjoy every single appearance on the stage as much as possible. I am extremely happy that I am going to perform in London. I confess that I will be setting foot in London for the first time in my life.

I understand that the programme will feature the works of Beethoven, Enescu and Prokofiev.

Yes, it is a repertoire that I have quite recently prepared. More precisely, I succeeded in publishing my doctoral dissertation in October, 2013. It deals with the Piano Sonata in the 18^th and 19^th Centuries. It is the outcome of the fact that I have always had an interest in this kind of composition. Obviously, when you say Beethoven you say piano sonata. Prokofiev’s musical piece is also a piano sonata and although it does not belong to the 18^th or the 19^th century, there are many people who argue that his piano sonatas are neoclassical works. As for Enescu, it is a natural thing for me to introduce his musical pieces into the recital programme for the simple reason that I have organized and I have been in charge of many Enescu event - concerts dedicated to the composer’s works, in the past ten years and also I have particular affinities with Enescu’s music.

You have recently returned from New York and Washington, is that right?

We are talking about a project proposed by the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest this time, to the prime institution, where there were included a concert tour and the reading of my recently published book. Consequently, I proposed the same recital program in New York and Washington.

The concert you are going to hold this evening is entitled Sonata in Sounds and Words. So, Mr. Matei Rogoz, your work is divided among several projects, including two particularly important ones, I would say, that of a musician and that of a researcher of the music phenomenon.

We could say that. I would not either entirely set aside the teaching part because I also love giving piano lessons.

We wish you a lot of success this evening! Would you like to share some thoughts with the audience from Romania?

I would be very happy to have the opportunity to perform for them and I wish them to have the means of enjoying music.