The Chopin University of Music (, UMFC) is a musical conservatorium and academy located in central

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe.Fryderyk Chopin University of Music
at the International Chopin Information Center
, Encyklopedia WIEM

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

(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 Wojciech Romuald Bogusławski (9 April 1757 – 23 July 1829) was a Polish actor, theater director and playwright of the Polish Enlightenment. He was the director of the National Theatre, Warsaw, (''Teatr Narodowy''), during three distinct pe ...

. 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 Polish composer, music teacher, and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw. He was one of ...

, 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 (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

and, together with the University, was dissolved by Russian imperial 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. 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), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

, ''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 List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

Directors and rectors

(1810–1814) * Ludwik Osiński (1814−1816) *

(1816–1830) * Apolinary Kątski (1861−1879) * Aleksander Zarzycki (1879−1888) * Rudolf Strobl (1888−1891) * Gustaw Roguski (1891−1903) *

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

(1903−1907) * Stanisław Barcewicz (1910−1918) * Emil Młynarski (1919−1922) * Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński (1922−1927) *

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 3 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernism (music), modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early w ...

(1927−1929) * Zbigniew Drzewiecki (1929−1930) *

(1930–1931) * Zbigniew Drzewiecki (1931–1932) * Eugeniusz Morawski-Dąbrowa (1932−1939) *

Kazimierz Sikorski Kazimierz Sikorski (June 28, 1895 – July 23, 1986) was a Polish composer. His arrangement of the "" is currently used as the Polish national anthem. Biography Sikorski was born in Zurich, but studied in Warsaw, first music at the Warsaw Cons ...

(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 2016-2024) * Tomasz Strahl (from 2024)

Doctors honoris causa

Igor Bełza Igor may refer to: * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name Arts, entertainment, and media *Igor (character), a stock character * Igors (''Discworld''), a fictional humanoid family in the ''Discworld'' ...

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

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 * Andrzej Jasiński *

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szymanow ...

* Andrzej Panufnik *

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 p ...

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 *

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

* Witold Rudziński * Jerzy Semkow *

* Stefan Śledziński * Regina Smendzianka * Stefan Sutkowski * Tadeusz Wroński

Notable professors

Tadeusz Baird Tadeusz Baird (26 July 19282 September 1981) was a Polish composer. Biography Baird was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, in Poland. His father Edward was Polish, while his mother Maria (née Popov) was Russian. In 1944 at the age of 16 he was deport ...

* Henryk Czyż * Zbigniew Drzewiecki * Irena Dubiska *

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

* Witold Maliszewski * Aleksander Michałowski * Stanisław Moniuszko * Witold Rudziński * Ada Sari * Tadeusz Szeligowski *

* Józef Turczyński * Kazimierz Wiłkomirski * Stanisław Wisłocki * Władysław Żeleński

Notable students

* Kari Amirian * Grażyna Bacewicz * Thomas Böttger * Elisabeth Chojnacka *

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (; – ) was a Lithuanian composer, painter, choirmaster, cultural figure, and writer in Polish. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and Art Nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. ...

* Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński *

Marian Filar Marian may refer to: People * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places *Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensland, a town in Australia * Marian, a village in toe comm ...

* 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 Paul Kletzki (born Paweł Klecki; 21 March 1900 – 5 March 1973) was a Polish conductor and composer. Biography Born in Łódź, Kletzki joined the Łódź Philharmonic at the age of fifteen as a violinist. After serving in the World War I, F ...

* Tomasz Konieczny * Hilary Koprowski * Bernard Ładysz *

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 t ...

* 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 Occupation of Poland (1939–45), German occupation of Poland du ...

* Jan Maklakiewicz * Maciej Małecki * Zygmunt Noskowski * Jakub Józef Orliński *

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;

r 1859 R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''. The lette ...

– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...

* Andrzej Panufnik * Olha Pasichnyk * Piotr Perkowski * Sergiusz Pinkwart * Hania Rani * Ludomir Różycki * Sanah * Antoni Szalowski * Stanisław Szpinalski * Adam Sztaba * Tomasz Szukalski * Alexandre Tansman * Piotr Tomaszewski * Zbigniew Turski * Eugenia Umińska * Moshe Vilenski * Małgorzata Walewska *

Mieczysław Weinberg Mieczysław Weinberg (December 8, 1919 – February 26, 1996) was a Polish, Soviet, and Russian composer and pianist. Born in Warsaw to parents who worked in the Yiddish theatre in Poland, his early years were surrounded by music. He taught him ...

* Kazimierz Wiłkomirski *

Roger Woodward Roger Robert Woodward (born 20 December 1942) is an Australian classical pianist, composer, conductor, teacher and human rights activist. He is widely regarded as a leading advocate of contemporary music. Early life Roger Woodward was born ...

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 (, ) is a public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well as 100 specializat ...

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

Citations

References

*
Home page
*

, Encyklopedia WIEM {{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 Music in Warsaw