The Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków () is a conservatory located in central

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is the ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'' of the renowned Polish contemporary composer

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'', '' ...

, who was also its rector for 15 years. The academy is the only one in Poland to have two winners of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw (

Halina Czerny-Stefańska Halina Czerny-Stefańska ( �xaˈlina t͡ʂɛrnɨ stɛˈfaj᷉ska31 December 19221 July 2001) was a Polish pianist. Life She studied piano under her father, Stanisław Szwarcenberg-Czerny, as well as with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de ...

and

Adam Harasiewicz Adam Harasiewicz (born 1 July 1932) is a Polish classical concert pianist. Harasiewicz was born in Chodziez. After studying violin for two months, at the age of 10 he began piano study, and at age 15 he obtained first prize in a contest at R ...

) as well as a few further prize-winners among its alumni.

Historical background

The academy was founded in 1888 by the eminent Polish composer Władysław Żeleński thanks to his artistic connections and patronage of Princess Marcelina Czartoryska, a concert pianist and former pupil of

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 Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

. Until 1945 it operated as a conservatory under the name of ''Conservatory of the Music Society'' or the ''Cracow Conservatory''. During the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, as the region of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

and Kraków was ruled by the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

– in the late 18th century, it was necessary to gain the consent of the Austrian administration and meet the imperial requirements set for all conservatoires. The newly opened school was inspected by Joseph Dachs and Johann Fuchs, both professors of the Vienna Conservatoire, and received their enthusiastic opinion. It enjoyed a period of great growth in the twenty years between the two wars under directors Wiktor Barabasz and Boleslaw Wallek-Walewski. The professorial staff included such names as

Zbigniew Drzewiecki Zbigniew Drzewiecki (; 8 April 189011 April 1971) was a Polish people, 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 severa ...

Jan Gall Jan Karol Gall (August 18, 1856 – October 30, 1912) was a Polish vocal composer and music teacher. Gall was born in Warsaw, and studied under Franz Krenn in Vienna, Josef Rheinberger in Munich, and Francesco Lamperti in Milan. In 1880, he became ...

Zdzisław Jachimecki Zdzisław Jachimecki (Lwów, 7 July 1882 – 27 October 1953, Kraków) was a Polish historian of music, composer, professor at the Jagiellonian University and the Academy of Music in Kraków, Kraków Music Academy, and member of the Polish Academy ...

Egon Petri Egon Petri (23 March 188127 May 1962) was a Dutch-American pianist. Life and career Petri's family was Dutch. He was born a Dutch citizen in Hanover, Germany, and grew up in Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule. His father, a professi ...

and Severin Eisenberger. Closed during the Nazi occupation of 1939–1945, especially after

Sonderaktion Krakau ''Sonderaktion Krakau'' was a German operation against professors and academics of the Jagiellonian University and other universities in German-occupied Kraków, Poland, at the beginning of World War II. It was carried out as part of the much bro ...

in 1939, the conservatoire continued its activity underground and finally reopened on 1 September 1945, becoming the State Higher School of Music as of 1 February 1946 under its first rector, Prof.

. In 1979 it gained the rank of an Academy of Music. On 1 October 2000 the academy inaugurated its new premises at 41–43, St. Thomas Street (ul. Sw. Tomasza).

Structure

Composition, Interpretation and Music Education Faculty

*Composition Department *Conducting Department *Music Theory and Interpretation Department *Music and Education Research Department *Choral Department *Religious Music Department *Electroacoustic Music Studio

Instrumental Faculty

*Piano Department *Organ Department *Early Music Department *Guitar and Harp Department *Violin and Viola Department *Cello and Double Bass Department *Woodwinds and Accordicon Department *Brass Department *Jazz Department *Percussion and Contemporary Music Department *Chamber Music Department

Voice and Drama Faculty

*Voice Department

People associated with the academy

Notable alumni

''The list does not include graduates who later became staff of the Academy.'' *

Sylvia Čápová-Vizváry Sylvia Čápová-Vizváry M. A., ArtD. (; born March 12, 1947, in Szombathely, Hungary) is a Slovakian pianist. Early life Čápová learned the basics of piano playing from her mother Gizela, a piano teacher. From childhood onwards, her abiliti ...

, pianist *

(pianist) * Janina Garscia (composer) *

(pianist) *

Jan Hoffman Jan Hoffman (11 June 1906 – 25 October 1995) was a Polish pianist and music educator. Biography Jan Hoffman was born in Kraków and studied with Józef Śliwiński and Wiktor Łabuński at the Conservatory of Music in Kraków, receiving a dipl ...

(pianist) *

Kazimierz Kord Kazimierz Kord (18 November 1930 – 29 April 2021) was a Polish conductor. Between 1949 and 1955, he studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatory. He also studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków. He held major conducting positions with the P ...

(conductor) *

Adam Kopyciński Adam Kopyciński (; b. 5 August 1907 in Osielec near Maków Podhalański – 3 October 1982 in Wrocław, Poland) was a Polish conductor and composer. During the Second World War, he was a prisoner in the Germany, German concentration camp ...

(conductor) *

Abel Korzeniowski Abel Korzeniowski (; born 18 July 1972) is a Polish composer of film and theatre scores. Life and career Korzeniowski was born in Kraków. He had contact with music from early childhood: his mother Barbara plays the cello and both his brothers ...

(film music composer) * Waldemar Maciszewski (pianist) *

Władysława Markiewiczówna Władysława Markiewiczówna (5 February 1900 in Bochnia – 17 May 1982 in Katowice) was a Polish pianist and renowned educator. She studied in the Conservatory of the Musical Society in Kraków (nowadays Academy of Music in Kraków) in the p ...

(pianist) * Elżbieta Szmytka (soprano) *

Wacław Kiełtyka Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka (born 17 December 1981) is a Polish musician, best known as the guitarist of the death metal band Decapitated. In addition to Decapitated, Wacław has been the guitarist of Lux Occulta since 1998, as well as a former m ...

(accordionist, guitarist) ;From postgraduate studies: *

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

(pianist) *

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 ...

(composer) * Marzena Diakun (conductor)

Notable faculty

Academics before World War II

:* Severin Eisenberger

Academics after 1945

Also graduated from the academy: * Marcel Chyrzyński (composer) *

Jerzy Katlewicz Jerzy Katlewicz (2 April 1927 Bochnia – 16 November 2015 Kraków) was a Polish music conductor, pianist and Professor of the Academy of Music in Kraków since 1990. Katlewicz graduated from the same Academy in 1952 (then called ''Państwowa Wy� ...

(conductor) *

Krzysztof Meyer Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Polish C ...

(composer) *

(composer) * Andrzej Pikul (pianist) * Paweł Przytocki (conductor) *

Bogusław Schaeffer Bogusław Julian Schaeffer (also Schäffer) (6 June 1929 – 1 July 2019) was a Polish composer, musicologist, and graphic artist, a member of the avant-garde "Cracow Group" of Polish composers alongside Krzysztof Penderecki and others. Schaeff ...

(composer) *

Stanisław Skrowaczewski Stanislaw Pawel Stefan Jan Sebastian Skrowaczewski (; October 3, 1923 – February 21, 2017) was a Polish-American classical conductor and composer. Biography Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów, Second Polish Republic (now Lviv, Ukraine). His pa ...

(conductor) *

Regina Smendzianka Regina Smendzianka (9 October 192415 September 2011) was a Polish pianist. Biography Regina Smendzianka was born in Toruń, and began her public performances as a child of eight surprising the audience with her mature interpretation of the classi ...

(pianist) * Jadwiga Szamotulska (pianist) ;Non-graduates: * Peter Holtslag (recorder and flauto traverso player) *

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 ...

(composer) * Bolesław Kon (pianist) * Roman Palester (composer) *

Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń (Bulgarian: Екатерина Попова) (born 30 April 1948 in Sofia) is a Polish pianist of Bulgarian descent. She studied at the Poznań Music Academy, then graduated with honours from the State High School of Musi ...

(pianist) *

Ada Sari Ada Sari (29 June 1886 – 12 July 1968) was a Polish opera singer, actress, and educator. One of the leading dramatic coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a large, resonant voice with a clear timbre. Her career took her to the s ...

(singer) * Jadwiga Szamotulska (pianist) * Eugenia Umińska (violinist) *

Bolesław Woytowicz Bolesław Woytowicz (5 December 189911 June 1980) was a Polish pianist and composer. Woytowicz was born in Dunaivtsi. In 1924 he was appointed a piano and music theory teacher in the Warsaw Conservatory, where he had been trained under Aleksander ...

(composer and pianist) *

Tadeusz Żmudziński Tadeusz Żmudziński (9 July 1924, in Chorzów – 17 October 1992, in Katowice) was a Polish pianist, and educator. In 1946, Żmudziński graduated with highest honours from the University of Music in Katowice, where he studied under Prof. Włady ...

(pianist)

Doctors ''honoris causa''

* 1994 –

* 1997 –

Paul Sacher Paul Sacher (28 April 190626 May 1999) was a Swiss conductor, patron and billionaire businessman. At the time of his death Sacher was majority shareholder of pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and was considered the third richest person i ...

* 2001 –

Mieczysław Tomaszewski Mieczysław () or Mečislovas (Lithuanian) is a Slavic name of Polish origin. Feminine form: Mieczysława. This name may refer to: People Mečislovas *Mečislovas Birmanas (1900–1950), Lithuanian chess player *Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestraiti ...

* 2003 –

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakade ...

* 2005 – Peter Lukas Graf * 2007 –

Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar (5 September 1924, Lviv, now Ukraine – 27 September 2008, Kraków) was a Polish people, Polish composer, music educator and pianist. She was born in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), and after World War II studied at ...

* 2008 –

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Henryk may refer to: * Henryk (given name) * Henryk, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, a village in south-central Poland * Henryk Glacier, an Antarctic glacier * Henryk JanikowskiSoccer Player (polish National) See also * Henryk Batuta hoax, an int ...

* 2013 –

Paul Badura-Skoda Paul Badura-Skoda (6 October 1927 – 25 September 2019) was an Austrian pianist. Career A student of Edwin Fischer, Badura-Skoda first rose to prominence by winning first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947. In 1949, he performed w ...

* 2015 –

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

* 2016 – Kaja Danczowska * 2017 – Iwan Monighetti * 2019 – Barbara Świątek-Żelazna * 2022 –

Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her car ...

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy of Music in Krakow Universities and colleges in Kraków Music schools in Poland Educational institutions established in 1888 1888 establishments in Austria-Hungary