The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music is a school of music of

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

level in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...

, in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It is named for

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the in ...

Studies

The school offers full-time and part-time BA, MA and DA studies at two departments:

Composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

, Interpretation, Education and

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

Department and Vocal-Instrumental Department. Studies are offered in the following fields: *

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary dutie ...

(speciality: symphonic and opera conducting) *

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

and

theory of music Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "Elements of music, rudiments", that are needed to understand ...

(specialties:

eurhythmics Dalcroze eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze method or simply eurhythmics, is one of several developmental approaches including the Kodály method, Orff Schulwerk and Suzuki Method used to teach music to students. Eurhythmics was develope ...

) *

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origin ...

(specialties:

, choral conducting,

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

) *

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

interpretation (specialties:

and

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

, instrumental performance,

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production ...

performance) * instrumental performance * vocal performance It offers paid studies in given specialties in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

. Study programs are based on the

European Credit Transfer System The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is a standard means for comparing academic credits, i.e., the "volume of learning based on the defined learning outcomes and their associated workload" for higher education across the ...

Concerts

Each year the school holds several artistic events such as

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide vari ...

(admission free),

competitions Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

master classes A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

and

conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

s. Many ensembles consisting of students perform concerts on a regular basis:

Academic

Symphony Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, Academic Wind Orchestra, Academic

Baroque Orchestra A Baroque orchestra is an ensemble for mixed instruments that existed during the Baroque era of Western Classical music, commonly identified as 1600–1750. Baroque orchestras are typically much smaller, in terms of the number of performers, than t ...

, Academic

Chamber Orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, Mixed Choir of the

Academy of Music,

Chamber Choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...

and

Institute Big-Band. It organizes bigger events as well: International

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

of Academic

Orchestras An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

(every 2 years),

Instrumental Music An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instrum ...

Festival (each year), Vocal Music Days (each year), International

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

Festival,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...

Festival (each year), All-Poland

Brass Instruments A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin ...

Competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, ind ...

, International

Harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

Festival.

Alumni

Alumni include:
*

Composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

Wojciech Kilar Wojciech Kilar (; 17 July 1932 – 29 December 2013) was a Polish classical and film music composer. One of his greatest successes came with his score to Francis Ford Coppola's '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' in 1992, which received the ASCAP Award a ...

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Henryk may refer to: * Henryk (given name) * Henryk, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, a village in south-central Poland * Henryk Glacier, an Antarctic glacier See also * Henryk Batuta hoax The Henryk Batuta hoax was a hoax perpetrated on the Polish ...

, Witold Szalonek,

Eugeniusz Knapik Eugeniusz Knapik (born July 9, 1951, in Ruda Śląska) is a Polish people, Polish pianist and composer of classical music best known for his 1980 Chamber Music, chamber piece String Quartet No. 1. Knapik studied composition and piano with Henryk G ...

, Aleksander Lasoń * Conductors:

Karol Stryja Karol Stryja (2 February 1915 in Cieszyn – 31 January 1998 in Katowice) was a Polish conductor and teacher. Stryja, son of a tailor, was born in Cieszyn and finished elementary school, gymnasium and teachers' seminary there. Since 1934 he ...

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

: Tadeusz Żmudziński,

Lidia Grychtołówna Lidia Grychtołówna (born 1928 in Rybnik) is a Polish pianist. In 1955 she was awarded the V International Chopin Piano Competition's 7th prize, and one year later she shared the 3rd prize of the inaugural edition of the Robert Schumann Compet ...

Andrzej Jasiński Andrzej Jasiński (born 23 October 1936 in Częstochowa) is a Polish pianist. In 1959 he graduated with honors from the University of Music in Katowice in the piano class of Władysława Markiewiczówna. The following year he won the Maria Can ...

, Jerzy Sterczyński,

Krystian Zimerman Krystian Zimerman (born 5 December 1956) is a Polish-Swiss concert pianist, conductor and pedagogue who has been described as one of the greatest pianists of his generation. In 1975, he won the IX International Chopin Piano Competition. Follo ...

, Joanna Domańska,

Krzysztof Jabłoński Krzysztof Jabłoński (born 30 September 1977 in Gniezno, Poland) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Poland. Career Jabłoński won European Champion titles and was a member of the Polish national team. In October 2008, he joined the ...

, Przemysław Lechowski, Szczepan Kończal, Anna Górecka, Jarred Dunn *

Szymon Krzeszowiec Szymon Krzeszowiec (; born 20 April 1974) is a Polish violinist, chamber musician and pedagogue. Musician of the Silesian String Quartet and member of the Trio Aristos. Education Szymon Krzeszowiec was born in Tychy, Poland. He started his m ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

Marcin Dylla Marcin Dylla is a Polish classical guitarist who has won over fifteen international classical guitar competitions. He was born in Chorzów, Poland, and took lessons at the Ruda Śląska Music High School, attended the Academy of Music in Kato ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

performers:

Tomasz Szukalski Tomasz Szukalski, born December 25, 1947, in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, registered by Soviet authorities January 8, 1948 – died August 2, 2012, in Piaseczno, Poland, was a Polish jazz saxophonist, composer and improviser. Szukalski work ...

Kasia Cerekwicka Kasia Cerekwicka (born ''Katarzyna Cerekwicka'' 17 March 1980 in Koszalin, Poland) is a Polish pop singer. She has been singing since she was a little girl. In 1997, at the age of 17, she won the popular Polish show '' Szansa na sukces'' ("Chan ...

Janusz Szrom Janusz Szrom (born 16 November 1968 in Grodków) is a Polish jazz vocalist and composer. Biography His musical education started in 1977 on the piano, at Nysa School of Music. Then, in 1981, he started to play on trumpet while continuing t ...

* the

Silesian String Quartet The Silesian String Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1978 by the graduates of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. Its current members are: * Szymon Krzeszowiec (violin I) * Arkadiusz Kubica (violin II) * Łukasz Syr ...

, including:

Location

The school consists of five buildings. The oldest

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

building was constructed at the end of the 19th century (33, Wojewódzka street). It is linked with the modern building which includes a

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that ma ...

for 480 people by a spacious atrium (designed by Tomasz Konior). Apart from the concert hall, the modern building includes one of the biggest musical libraries in

, a

hall, an

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

laboratory, a

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

and many other facilities. The atrium is also linked with a building in 3, Zacisze street, where the Academy's authorities have their offices. The other two buildings where lectures and rehearsals take place, are located in 5, Zacisze street and 27, Krasińskiego street.

Museum of Silesian Organ

The

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

Organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, located in the basement of the oldest building, is the only museum of this kind in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

. It gathers and preserves many objects connected with

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

and its history.

International cooperation

The academy has exchange agreements with the School of Music of

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one ...

in the United States, the

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music edu ...

Pedagogical Institute of Music in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part Hungary. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's th ...

in Hungary, and the department of

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

of Palacký University of Olomouc in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It participates in the

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

Programme.

External links

References

{{authority control Universities and colleges in Katowice Music schools in Poland Educational institutions established in 1929 1929 establishments in Poland