Conductor, Flute player and esteemed teacher, CORVIN MATEI is Professor of Flute and Conducting at the Stellenbosch University. He is the founder and Music Director of the Cape Town Concert Orchestra and the Music Director of the Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Romania, he studied at the Bucharest Conservatoire of Music graduating with a Masters in Flute performance. During his studies he also attended orchestral conducting courses and master classes with prominent Romanian conductors and participated in international festivals in Germany (including Bayreuth), Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, France, Spain and Italy.
After graduating, Matei auditioned and was appointed at the “G. Enescu” Philharmonic Orchestra, where he played for seven years under conductors such as Celibidache and Mazur, amongst others. During his seven years with this orchestra he also appeared as soloist with other leading orchestras in Romania, and he became more interested in conducting attending Witold Rovitscki’s Summer Master Classes in Vienna, and Sergiu Celibidache’s Master Class in Bucharest. He also recorded intensively for Romanian Radio-Television, and was awarded first prize in the Romanian National Competition in 1976 and 1983.
After leaving Romania in 1983, he studied conducting with Professor Erich Kluge form the Cologne Conservatoire and performed both as soloist and conductor with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra during their tour to Southern France.
In 1985 Corvin Matei was appointed Principal Flute of the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra where he played for twelve years. During this period he also performed in solo concerts with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, the CAPAB Chamber Orchestra and the Bloemfontein Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, for over a year he played Principal Flute with the new Cape Philharmonic. He has also recorded for the SABC, and his first CD, Music for Flute and Harp has proved to be a great success. In the same year he was awarded a PhD by the University of Cape Town.
From 1997, after studying with Bernard Gueller (one of Celibidache’s best students), Matei has started a busy conducting schedule. In South Africa he conducted the Johannesburg Philharmonic, The Cape Philharmonic, The Stellenbosch University Symphony Orchestra (which in 2004, under his direction won the category of best symphony orchestra among 46 orchestras at the prestigious Tygerberg Competition), the Cape Sinfonia, The Beau Soleil Symphony Orchestra (from 2001 till 2004 he was Head of Woodwind Department at Beau Soleil Music Centre) and the Sans Souci Orchestra (the orchestra, under his direction was awarded the coveted SAMRO Trophy in the 1999 Eisteddfod).
In 2004 Dr Matei was appointed at the Music Department of Stellenbosch University Department of Music, and Music Director of the symphony orchestra. In the same year, he started his international career as a conductor, when he was invited to conduct three of Romania’s leading professional orchestras. Since then he has been conducting all major Romanian orchestras, as well as orchestras in Ukraine and Bulgaria. At present Corvin Matei has a busy conducting schedule in South Africa and abroad.