On the occasion of the celebration of National Culture Day, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing has the distinct honor of inviting you to two extraordinary piano concerts, performed by pianist Matei Rogoz, as well as to the opening of two exceptional exhibitions, dedicated to the promotion of Romanian cultural heritage in China:
**1. 15 January – Extraordinary Piano Recital and the opening of the exhibition “15 Great Personalities of Romanian Culture”**at Choi Centre Cloud House, Beijing
The first event takes place on 15 January, at Choi Centre Cloud House in Beijing, and consists of an extraordinary piano recital performed by Matei Rogoz, followed by the opening of the exhibition “15 Great Personalities of Romanian Culture” (The Faces of Romanian Culture – Fifteen Canonical Figures), a photography exhibition created through digital generation and processing techniques using artificial intelligence.
The exhibition proposes a visual reflection on canonical figures of Romanian culture, bringing together fifteen portraits of emblematic personalities from literature, music, visual arts, theatre, diplomacy, and intellectual life: Mihai Eminescu, Constantin Brâncuși, George Enescu, Nicolae Grigorescu, Mircea Eliade, Eugen Ionescu, Maria Tănase, Ion Popescu-Gopo, Nicolae Titulescu, Liviu Ciulei, Hariclea Darclée, Ion Luca Caragiale, Vasile Alecsandri, Queen Marie, and Nicolae Iorga.
Through the use of contemporary digital technologies, the portraits explore the intersection between historical memory, technological innovation, and artistic interpretation, offering a current visual language through which canonical figures are recontextualized for a contemporary audience. The exhibition will remain open to the public for one month, contributing to the increased visibility of Romanian culture within Beijing’s cultural landscape.
The event takes place at Choi Centre Cloud House, a high-level cultural space dedicated to international artistic dialogue. Supported by the Jonathan K. S. Choi Foundation, in partnership with the Embassy of France in China and the EUNIC networks, the venue is the former residence and studio of the Chinese artist Huang Rui, founder of the 798 Art District. Its architecture combines traditional Chinese elements—such as the Eight Trigrams of the I Ching, historic bricks from the Ming and Qing dynasties, and wooden beams from Prince Gong’s Palace—with a contemporary design conceived by architects Neville Mars and Bian Jing, becoming a landmark of international cultural cooperation.
**2. 17 January – Second piano recital, Eminescu poetry, and the opening of the exhibition “Eminescu – Genius in Manuscript”** at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing
The second event takes place on 17 January, at the headquarters of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing, and consists of a new piano recital performed by Matei Rogoz, complemented by a poetry recital dedicated to Mihai Eminescu, Romania’s national poet.
The event is accompanied by the opening of the exhibition “Eminescu – Genius in Manuscript”, which presents a rigorous selection of photographic reproductions of rare manuscript facsimiles from the collections of the Library of the Romanian Academy. These manuscripts originate from the poet’s celebrated trunk, donated to the Romanian Academy in 1902 by Titu Maiorescu. The documents were later organized into 45 notebooks and published in full between 2005 and 2009, under the coordination of academician Eugen Simion.
The exhibition offers the public privileged access to the depth, complexity, and creative process of Eminescu’s work, revealing the intellectual and artistic dimension of one of the most important European poets of the nineteenth century. The exhibition will be open until 17 February, and may be visited Monday to Friday, between 9:00 and 16:00, at the headquarters of ICR Beijing. Copyright for the use of the images was granted free of charge to the Romanian Cultural Institute by the Library of the Romanian Academy.
Matei Rogoz is a distinguished Romanian pianist, born in Bucharest in 1973, with an artistic and academic career firmly anchored in the European cultural space. He pursued his musical studies at the “Dinu Lipatti” Music High School and at the National University of Music in Bucharest, where he was trained under the guidance of leading masters of the Romanian piano school, including Sandu Sandrin and Nicolae Brânduș. Beginning in 1997, he continued his advanced training in France, at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, under the guidance of Françoise Thinat, as well as at the National Conservatory of Music in L’Haÿ-les-Roses, completing his education through masterclasses given by François-René Duchâble and Boris Bloch, at the Mozarteum Salzburg.
Over the years, Matei Rogoz has given recitals and concerts in major cultural centers across Europe, America, and Asia, including Bucharest, Vienna, Paris, London, New York, Washington D.C., Havana, and Beijing, collaborating as a soloist with the Arad and Iași Symphony Orchestras. In 2011, he obtained the title of Doctor of Music, and his interpretative activity has been documented through recordings made by Radio France Internationale (RFI), TVR Cultural, and Romanian Radio Broadcasting. Through an interpretative approach characterized by structural clarity, stylistic rigor, and artistic sensitivity, he has established himself as a leading soloist and an articulate representative of the Romanian piano school on international stages. Since 2018, he has been Associate Professor at the West University of Timișoara, a member of the Doctoral School of Music and Theatre, and is deeply involved in the training of new generations of musicians, both through teaching and through interpretative practice alongside students and doctoral candidates.
Program
(approx. 60 minutes)
• F. Chopin – Polonaise op. 44, F-sharp minor
• G. Enescu – Suite No. 2 op. 10, D major
I. Toccata · II. Sarabande · III. Pavane · IV. Bourrée
• L. van Beethoven – Sonata No. 31 op. 110, A-flat major
I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo · II. Allegro molto ·
III. Adagio ma non troppo – Fuga. Allegro ma non troppo
Intermission
• F. Schubert – Impromptu op. 142 No. 1 (D. 935/1), F minor
• F. Schubert – Sonata D. 784, A minor
I. Allegro giusto · II. Andante · III. Allegro vivace
• S. Prokofiev – Sonata No. 7 op. 83, B-flat major
I. Allegro inquieto · II. Andante caloroso · III. Precipitato
On Sunday, 18 January, at 4:00 PM, pianist Matei Rogoz will give a masterclass at the headquarters of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing, with students and young musicians from the Beijing Conservatory of Music.
Access is granted by prior reservation, by scanning the QR code on the poster, subject to availability.
For further information, please contact us by email at ema.stoian@icr.ro.
We look forward to seeing you!
