Academy of Music in Kraków

Academy of Music in Kraków
Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie

The main building of the Academy at St. Thomas Street in Kraków Old Town; view from Planty Park
"Plus ratio quam vis"
Address
ul. św. Tomasza 43
Lesser Poland
Kraków, 31-515
Poland
Coordinates Coordinates: 50°03′42.1″N 19°56′35.9″E / 50.061694°N 19.943306°E / 50.061694; 19.943306
Information
Founded 1888
Founder Władysław Żeleński
Status Public
Rector Prof. Stanisław Krawczyński
Affiliations The European Association of Conservatoires, Association of Baltic Academies of Music, CEEPUS, Socrates-Erasmus
Website www.amuz.krakow.pl

The Academy of Music in Kraków (Polish: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie) is a conservatory located in central Kraków, Poland. It is the alma mater of the renowned Polish contemporary composer Krzysztof Penderecki, 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 and Adam Harasiewicz) as well as a few further prize-winners among its alumni.[1]

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. 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, as the region of Lesser Poland and Kraków was ruled by the Austrian Empire – 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, Jan Gall, Zdzisław Jachimecki, Egon Petri and Severin Eisenberger.

Closed during the Nazi occupation of 1939-1945, especially after Sonderaktion Krakau 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. Zbigniew Drzewiecki. 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

Composer Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933)

Faculty of Musical Composition, Interpretation, Analysis and Education

The Instrumental Faculty

The Faculty of Vocal and Drama

People associated with the Academy

Composer Krzysztof Meyer (b. 1943)

Notable Alumni

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

From postgraduate studies

Notable Staff

Composer Bogusław Schaeffer, b. 1929

Academics before the World War II

Academics after 1945

Also graduated from the Academy:

Non-graduates

Doctors honoris causa

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Mission statement". Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie (homepage). Retrieved June 15, 2012.
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