The Chopin University of Music ( pl, Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina, UMFC) is a musical conservatorium and academy located in central

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

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 the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

.Fryderyk Chopin University of Music
at the International Chopin Information Center

Encyklopedia WIEM WIEM Encyklopedia (full name in pl, Wielka Interaktywna Encyklopedia Multimedialna - "Great Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia"; in Polish, ''wiem'' also means 'I know') is a Polish Internet encyclopedia. The first printed edition was released i ...

History

Konserwatorium Muzyczne w Warszawie przed 1939

Named for the Polish composer

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

(whose birth name was Fryderyk Chopin and who studied there from 1826 to 1829), the University dates from the Music School for singers and theatre actors that was founded in 1810 by Wojciech Bogusławski. In 1820 it was transformed by Chopin's subsequent teacher,

Józef Elsner Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner (sometimes ''Józef Ksawery Elsner''; baptismal name, ''Joseph Anton Franz Elsner''; 1 June 176918 April 1854) was a composer, music teacher, and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw. He was one of the fir ...

, into a more general school of music, the Institute of Music and Declamation; it was then affiliated with the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

and, together with the University, was dissolved by

Russian imperial The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

authorities during the repressions that followed the November 1830 Uprising. In 1861 it was revived as Warsaw's Institute of Music.The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music
at Culture.pl After Poland regained independence in 1918, the Institute was taken over by the Polish state and became known as the Warsaw Conservatory. The institution's old main building was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

. After the war, in 1946, the school was recreated as the Higher State School of Music. In 1979 the school assumed the name: Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy. In 2008 the school once again changed its name to the Chopin University of Music.

Buildings

The main building, at ''ulica Okólnik 2'' in Central Warsaw, was constructed between 1960 and 1966. It contains 62 sound-proof classrooms; a concert hall (486 seats), the Szymanowski Lecture Theater (adapted for film projection; 155 seats), the Melcer Chamber Music Hall (196 seats and a Walcker organ sampled by Piotr Grabowski), the Moniuszko Opera Hall (53 seats), a rhythmics room, three music-recording and sound-track studios, a tuner's studio, a library and reading room, rector's offices, deans' offices, management offices, guest rooms, the ''GAMA'' cafeteria, and doctor's and dentist's clinics. There is also a music book shop and antiquarian book shop. The University also has its own

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or universi ...

, ''Dziekanka'', at '' 58/60 Krakowskie Przedmieście''. The latter has its own 150-seat concert hall.

Structure

The University is divided into the following departments: * Department of Symphony and Orchestra Conducting * Department of Composition and Theory of Music * Department of Instrumental Studies * Department of Vocal and Acting Studies * Department of Choir Conducting and Choir Studies, Music Education and Rhythmics * Department of Sound Engineering * Department of Church Music * Department of Dance * Department of Jazz and Stage Music * Department of Instrumental and Educational Studies, Music Education and Vocal Studies in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok U ...

Directors and rectors

* Wojciech Bogusławski (1810–1814) *

Ludwik Osiński Ludwik Osiński (24 August 1775, Kock - 27 November 1838, Warsaw) was a Polish literary critic, historian, literary theorist, translator, poet, playwright and speaker, who also served as a minister in the government of Congress Poland. Biogra ...

(1814−1816) *

(1816–1830) *

Apolinary Kątski Apollinaire de Kontski (2 July 182429 June 1879) was a Polish violinist, teacher, and composer. He was born in Warsaw (some sources say incorrectly Kraków) as Apolinary Kątski, the youngest of five musical siblings who all used the name ''d ...

(1861−1879) *

Aleksander Zarzycki Aleksander Zarzycki (26 February 1834 in Lwów (Lemberg), Austria-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine) – 1 November 1895 in Warsaw) was a Polish pianist, composer and conductor. Author of piano and violin compositions, mazurkas, polonaises, krakowiaks, ...

(1879−1888) * Rudolf Strobl (1888−1891) *

Gustaw Roguski Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

(1891−1903) *

Emil Młynarski Emil Szymon Młynarski (; 18 July 18705 April 1935) was a Polish conductor, violinist, composer, and pedagogue. Life Młynarski was born in Kibarty (Kybartai), Russian Empire, now in Lithuania. He studied violin with Leopold Auer and composi ...

(1903−1907) * Stanisław Barcewicz (1910−1918) * Emil Młynarski (1919−1922) *

Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński (25 July 1869 – 18 April 1928) was a Polish composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher. Works Orchestral works * Piano Concerto in e minor (1892-4) * Piano Concerto in c minor (1898) * Symphony in c minor Stage Wo ...

(1922−1927) *

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 ...

(1927−1929) *

Zbigniew Drzewiecki Zbigniew Drzewiecki (; 8 April 189011 April 1971) was a Polish pianist who was for most of his life a teacher of pianists. He was especially associated with the interpretation of Frédéric Chopin's works. His pupils include several famous pianist ...

(1929−1930) *

(1930–1931) * Zbigniew Drzewiecki (1931–1932) * Eugeniusz Morawski-Dąbrowa (1932−1939) * Kazimierz Sikorski (1940−1944) * Stanisław Kazuro (1945−1951) * Stanisław Szpinalski (1951−1957) * Kazimierz Sikorski (1957−1966) * Teodor Zalewski (1966−1969) * Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz (1969−1971) * Regina Smendzianka (1972−1973) * Tadeusz Wroński (1973−1975) * Tadeusz Maklakiewicz (1975−1978) * Bogusław Madey (1978−1981) * Andrzej Rakowski (1981−1987) * Kazimierz Gierżod (1987−1993) * Andrzej Chorosiński (1993−1999) * Ryszard Zimak (1999−2005) * Stanisław Moryto (2005−2012) * Ryszard Zimak (2012−2016) * Klaudiusz Baran (from 2016)

Doctors honoris causa

* Igor Bełza *

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

* Jan Ekier *

Joachim Grubich Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

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 ...

* Witold Lutosławski *

Andrzej Panufnik Sir Andrzej Panufnik (24 September 1914 – 27 October 1991) was a Polish composer and conductor. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philh ...

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the Western concert flute, flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th ce ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well ...

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist.

* Witold Rudziński * Jerzy Semkow * Kazimierz Sikorski * Stefan Śledziński * Regina Smendzianka * Stefan Sutkowski * Tadeusz Wroński

Notable professors

* Tadeusz Baird *

Henryk Czyż Henryk Czyż (; 16 June 1923 – 16 January 2003) was a Polish musician with a high reputation for conducting and teaching. He was born in Grudziądz. He was also a composer in his own right and wrote a number of books which are highly regar ...

* Irena Dubiska *

Paweł Łukaszewski Paweł Łukaszewski (born 19 September 1968) is a Polish composer of choral music. He has won seven prestigious Fryderyk Awards. According to David Wordsworth, Łukaszewski is the best-known Polish composer of his generation in and out of Poland ...

Witold Maliszewski Witold Maliszewski (russian: Витольд Осипович Малишевский, uk, Вітольд Йосифович Малішевський; 20 July 1873 – 18 July 1939) was a Polish composer, founder of Odessa Conservatory, and a profes ...

Aleksander Michałowski Aleksander Michałowski (17 October 1938) was a Polish pianist, pedagogue and composer who, in addition to his own immense technique, had a profound influence upon the teaching of pianoforte technique, especially in relation to the works of Chopi ...

Stanisław Moniuszko Stanisław Moniuszko (; May 5, 1819 – June 4, 1872) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. He wrote many popular art songs and operas, and his music is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish–Lithuania ...

* Witold Rudziński * Ada Sari *

Tadeusz Szeligowski Tadeusz Szeligowski (13 September 1896 - 10 January 1963) was a Polish composer, educator, lawyer and music organizer. His works include the operas ''The Rise of the Scholars'', ''Krakatuk'' and ''Theodor Gentlemen'', the ballets ''The Peacock an ...

* Józef Turczyński *

Kazimierz Wiłkomirski Kazimierz Wiłkomirski; (September 1, 1900, Moscow - March 7, 1995, Warsaw) was a Polish cellist, composer and conductor. Son of Alfred Wiłkomirski, brother of Maria Wiłkomirska, Wanda Wiłkomirska and violinist Michael Wilkomirski. Graduate o ...

* Stanisław Wisłocki * Władysław Żeleński

Notable students

* Kari Amirian *

Grażyna Bacewicz Grażyna Bacewicz Biernacka (; 5 February 1909 – 17 January 1969) was a Polish composer and violinist. She is the second Polish female composer to have achieved national and international recognition, the first being Maria Szymanowska in the ea ...

* Thomas Böttger *

Elisabeth Chojnacka Elisabeth Chojnacka (born Elżbieta Ukraińczyk; 10 September 1939 – 28 May 2017) was a Polish harpsichordist living in France. She was one of the world's foremost harpsichordists specializing in the performance of contemporary harpsichord mu ...

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis ( pl, Mikołaj Konstanty Czurlanis – ) was a Lithuanian painter, composer and writer. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. He has been ...

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (15 February 1807 – 9 October 1867) was a Polish pianist and composer. He was the son of Ignacy Dobrzyński, the brother of Edward Dobrzyński, and the father of Bronisław Dobrzyński. Life Dobrzyński was born ...

Marian Filar Marian Filar is the name of: * Marian Filar (pianist), Polish pianist *Marian Filar (politician) Marian Filar (6 October 1942 – 1 June 2020) was a Polish lawyer, academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδ� ...

* Grzegorz Fitelberg *

Mieczysław Karłowicz Mieczysław Karłowicz (, 11 December 18768 February 1909) was a Polish composer and conductor. Life Mieczysław Karłowicz was born in Vishneva, in the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Belarus) into a noble family belonging to ...

Stefan Kisielewski Stefan Kisielewski (7 March 1911 in Warsaw – 27 September 1991 in Warsaw, Poland), nicknames Kisiel, Julia Hołyńska, Teodor Klon, Tomasz Staliński, was a Polish writer, publicist, composer and politician, and one of the members of Znak, one ...

* Paweł Klecki *

Tomasz Konieczny Tomasz Konieczny (; born 10 January 1972) is a Polish bass-baritone. Life and work He was born on 10 January 1972 in Łódź, Poland. He commenced his studies as an actor at the Film, TV and Theatre Academy in Łódź. Following this he studied ...

Hilary Koprowski Hilary Koprowski (5 December 191611 April 2013) was a Polish virologist and immunologist active in the United States who demonstrated the world's first effective live polio vaccine. He authored or co-authored over 875 scientific papers and co ...

Bernard Ładysz Bernard Ładysz (24 July 192225 July 2020) was a Polish bass-baritone and actor. He performed internationally at major opera houses and festivals, known for the title roles of Mozart's '' Don Giovanni'' and Mussorgsky's ''Boris Godunov''. His re ...

Wanda Landowska Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in ...

* Jerzy Lefeld *

Maciej Łukaszczyk Maciej Łukaszczyk (11 March 1934, Warsaw – 4 June 2014, Poznań) was a Polish pianist. Life Łukaszczyk was born in the capital city of Poland, Warsaw, in March 1934. During the German occupation of Poland during the Second World War, he and ...

* Witold Lutosławski *

Jan Maklakiewicz Jan Adam Maklakiewicz (24 November 1899, Chojnata, Congress Poland – 8 February 1954, Warsaw) was a Polish composer, conductor, critic, and music educator. His most known compositions belong to the choral music. Selected filmography * ''Pan ...

* Maciej Małecki *

Zygmunt Noskowski Zygmunt Noskowski (2 May 1846 – 23 July 1909) was a Polish composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Noskowski was born in Warsaw and was originally trained at the Warsaw Conservatory studying violin and composition with Stanisław Moni ...

Jakub Józef Orliński Jakub Józef Orliński (; born 8 December 1990) is a Polish operatic countertenor singer and breakdancer. He has performed leading roles with many opera companies, including Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Warsaw Grand Thea ...

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versaill ...

* Olha Pasichnyk *

Piotr Perkowski Piotr Perkowski (17 March 1901 in Oweczacze (Овечаче, Ovechache, now Druzhne), Vinnytsia Oblast, now in Ukraine – 12 August 1990 in Otwock) was a Polish composer. Perkowski studied at the Music Academy in Warsaw, and in Paris with Al ...

* Sergiusz Pinkwart * Hania Rani *

Ludomir Różycki Ludomir Różycki (; 18 September 1883 Warsaw – 1 January 1953 Katowice) was a Polish composer and conductor. He was, with Mieczysław Karłowicz, Karol Szymanowski and Grzegorz Fitelberg, a member of the group of composers known as ''You ...

* Sanah * Antoni Szalowski * Stanisław Szpinalski * Adam Sztaba *

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 ...

Alexandre Tansman Alexander Tansman ( pl, Aleksander Tansman, link=no, French: Alexandre Tansman; 12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of ...

* Piotr Tomaszewski * Zbigniew Turski * Eugenia Umińska *

Moshe Vilenski Moshe Wilensky ( he, משה וילנסקי, also, "Vilensky"; 17 April 1910 – 2 January 1997) was a Polish-Israeli composer, lyricist, and pianist. He is considered a "pioneer of Israeli song" and one of Israel's leading composers, and was a wi ...

Małgorzata Walewska Małgorzata Walewska (born 5 July 1965) is a Polish opera singer, dramatic mezzo-soprano. Biography Education Born in Warsaw, Poland, Małgorzata Walewska graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music under the tutelage of Halina S ...

Mieczysław Weinberg Mieczysław Weinberg (8 December 1919 – 26 February 1996) was a Polish-born Soviet composer and pianist. Names Much confusion has been caused by different renditions of the composer's names. In official Polish documents made before he mov ...

* Roger Woodward

Competitions

The University organizes the following music competitions: * the Tadeusz Wronski International Solo Violin Competition (''Międzynarodowy Konkurs T. Wrońskiego na Skrzypce Solo'') * an International Organ Competition (''Międzynarodowy Konkurs Organowy'') * the Wanda Landowska Harpsichord Competition (''Międzynarodowy Konkurs Klawesynowy im. W. Landowskiej'') * the Witold Lutoslawski International Cello Competition (''Międzynarodowy Konkurs Wiolonczelowy im. W. Lutosławskiego'')

Orchestras

The University has two orchestras: a symphony orchestra, and the Chopin University Orchestra, as well as a choir.

Notes

a Since at that time the Warsaw Conservatory was affiliated with

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

's Art Department, Chopin is also counted among the University's alumni.

Citations

References

*
Home page
*

{{authority control University of Music Buildings and structures completed in 1966 Educational institutions established in 1810 Music schools in Poland Universities and colleges in Warsaw * 1810 establishments in Poland