Warsaw Conservatory encyclopedia topics

History

Named for the great Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin (who studied there from 1826 to 1829), the Academy dates its history from the Music School for singers and theater actors that had been founded in 1810 by Wojciech Bogusławski. In 1820 it was transformed by Chopin's subsequent teacher, Józef Elsner, into a more general school of music, the Institute of Music and Declamation; it was then affiliated with the University of Warsaw 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.

After Poland regained independence in 1918, the Institute was taken over by the Polish state and became known as the Warsaw Conservatory. The institutions's old main building was destroyed during World War II, in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war, in 1946, the school was recreated as the Higher State School of Music. In 1979 the school assumed its present name, the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy.

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 an organ), 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 student club, a cafeteria, and doctor's and dentist's clinics. There is also a music book shop and antiquarian book shop.

The Academy also has its own dormitory, Dziekanka, at 58/60 Krakowskie Przedmiescie. The latter has its own 150-seat concert hall.

Structure

The Academy is divided into 6 departments:

Department I: Composition, Conducting and Theory of Music
Department II: Piano, Harpsichord and Organs
Department III: Instrumental Studies
Department IV: Vocal Studies
Department V: Musical Education
Department VI: Sound Directing / Engineering

Competitions

The Academy 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 Academy has two orchestras — a Symphony Orchestra, and the Chopin Academy Orchestra — and a Choir.

Notes

a Since at that time the Warsaw Conservatory was affiliated with Warsaw University's Art Department, Chopin is also counted among the University's alumni.