Study Music in Poland?

Switezianka:

For studying instruments he will most probably have to:
-prepare some pieces at home and present them (the Academy will name several pieces to choose from)
-get some unknown notes and an hour or two to prepare another piece or set of pieces
-have an exam in a vista playing
So, if he can't play a vista, he can forget about it.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 9, 08, 07:44 / #
Hi everyone, I live in NY State, USA. I have a nephew (who also lives here) who wants to go on to college to study music. He is a senior in high school this year, turning 18 in December, has very good grades and plays at least 5 musical instruments. He's been active in the school band ever since he entered high school, as well as in other activities. I think he's a good catch for any university. So I'm wondering: Are there good music schools (universities) in Poland? If so, where? Do they offer scholarships to American students who want to study abroad? If anyone has any ideas about this, would you please respond? I'd appreciate any input I can get on this topic. Thank you very much! Rakky

skiThreads: 12 Posts: 202 Joined: Jun 28, 08	Edited by: ski Sep 9, 08, 08:51 / #
It is ranking from 2007 1) Akademia Muzyczna w Warszawie http://www.chopin.edu.pl/angielskie/ 2) Akademia Muzyczna w Katowicach am.katowice.pl/Pages/general.html 3) Akademia Muzyczna we Wrocławiu amuz.wroc.pl/index_e.html Polish musicians are very good and we have results of the education standarts.

Grzegorz_Threads: 81 Posts: 6,213 Joined: Nov 16, 06	Sep 9, 08, 10:25 / #
There are 8 university level public music schools in Poland. The problem is that I don't think they offer studies in English.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 9, 08, 11:17 / #
Thank you, ski and Grzerorz_. Grzegorz_: There are 8 university level public music schools in Poland ski: It is ranking from 2007 What about the other 8? Are there any good ones in Krakow, or nearby to Krakow? Grzegorz_: The problem is that I don't think they offer studies in English Does anyone know of any exceptions to this? My nephew does not (yet) speak Polish.

skiThreads: 12 Posts: 202 Joined: Jun 28, 08	Edited by: ski Sep 9, 08, 11:25 / #
Rakky: What about the other 8? Are there any good ones in Krakow, or nearby to Krakow? There is academy in Krakow. http://www.amuz.krakow.pl/en/?web=sokrates They do have foreign students and IMO they should have courses in english.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 9, 08, 11:41 / #
ski: There is academy in Krakow. Again - thank you. I will investigate.

Grzegorz_Threads: 81 Posts: 6,213 Joined: Nov 16, 06	Edited by: Grzegorz_ Sep 9, 08, 11:50 / #
Here you have all of them: Akademia Muzyczna im.Feliksa Nowowiejskiego w Bydgoszczy http://www.amuz.bydgoszcz.pl/ Akademia Muzyczna im. Stanisława Moniuszki w Gdańsku http://www.amuz.gda.pl/ Akademia Muzyczna w Katowicach http://www.am.katowice.pl/ Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie http://www.amuz.krakow.pl/ Akademia Muzyczna im. Grażyny i Kiejstuta Bacewiczów w Łodzi Akademia Muzyczna im. Ignacego Jana Paderewskiego w Poznaniu http://www.amuz.edu.pl/page.php/2/0/show/121 Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina w Warszawie http://www.chopin.edu.pl/ Akademia Muzyczna we Wrocławiu http://www.amuz.wroc.pl/ So there is Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Łódź, Poznań, Warszawa and Wrocław.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 10, 08, 06:51 / #
Grzegorz_: Here you have all of them: You guys are awesome! Thanks so much!

marcin1qwertyThreads: - Posts: 1 Joined: Sep 11, 08	Sep 11, 08, 06:50 / #
so come to POland

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 11, 08, 06:53 / #
marcin1qwerty: so come to POland Thanks for the invitation! Actually, I just made my first trip to Poland, from 7/15-23/08, and loved every minute of it. I know have good friends in Gorlice, so I'll come back just as soon as I can.

DearMusic	Sep 14, 08, 08:56 / #
There is almost 50 special school of classical music. I have 3 Chopinowsky Award! and i can say you that the best school is in Warsaw! Go to Mendoza School in St Petersburg ( 2km of krakow)! that 's the best!!!

LCzachorThreads: 6 Posts: 82 Joined: Dec 12, 07	Sep 16, 08, 05:35 / #
If you need some help with scholarships or such, try http://www.kosciuszkofoundation.org/ I do not know how exactly it works, but an e-mail would be answered quickly. I found it just yesterday and they offer scholarships to US citizens willing to study abroad. :) Pozdrawiam

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08	Sep 18, 08, 14:08 / #
Polish musical education is very conservative. If your nephew is into Bach or Chopin, it will be OK for him to study in Poland. But if he's more into Stockhausen or Boulez, he'd better stay out of Poland and go there only once a year for Warsaw Autumn. I have some experience working with or observing the work of classically trained musicians and I think Polish musical education is limiting. Improvisation and creativity is not encouraged. Many of those people can only play by notes and if they don't have everything written down, they get lost. It is not only my opinion (I'm a musician with no formal education) but also one shared e.g. by my conductor who's getting her second degree in music. Of course, to a creative person, musical education can do no harm and only help, but I wouldn't count for learning anything more than technique, theory and history of music until the 19th century. Sorry to say this, but most classically trained musicians I know are too conservative to understand anything that was after Schoenberg.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 18, 08, 18:34 / #
LCzachor: If you need some help with scholarships Thank you! I will definitely look into this. Switezianka: If your nephew is into Bach or Chopin He's definitely not. At least not that I've seen so far. I appreciate your input on this subject. My guess is that he and his parents will have little interest in having him study abroad, but I wanted to make all opportunities available to him, just in case. Besides, if he was attending school in Krakow I'd have reason to come to visit more often.

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08	Sep 18, 08, 19:00 / #
Rakky, and what kind of formal musical education has he got? It's not so easy to get into a music academy.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 19, 08, 06:53 / #
Switezianka: It's not so easy to get into a music academy. I'm learning that. I know he plays a number of instruments, but doubt that he has the formal training that might be required for admission. I think he has the potential to be a talented musician, but he seems to lack the work ethic and dedication that it would require. Still, I intend to keep prompting him to be more than he seems to be satisfied with being right now. Thank you for your concern and your valuable input, Switezianka. (By the way, I'd love to know the story behind your screen name, and what it means.)

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08	Sep 22, 08, 12:22 / #
Rakky: I know he plays a number of instruments, but doubt that he has the formal training that might be required for admission. The papers are usually not required, but some skills taught at music schools are. For studying instruments he will most probably have to: -prepare some pieces at home and present them (the Academy will name several pieces to choose from) -get some unknown notes and an hour or two to prepare another piece or set of pieces -have an exam in a vista playing So, if he can't play a vista, he can forget about it. Rakky: (By the way, I'd love to know the story behind your screen name, and what it means.) There is a Romantic narrative poem by Mickiewicz called "Świtezianka", and Świtezianka is most probably the name of a kind of a deamon who lives in the lake of Świteź. Or it's also a species of dragonfly.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 22, 08, 12:26 / #
I knew it would be good! So which are you? Demon? Dragonfly? Both?

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08	Sep 22, 08, 12:30 / #
Deamon. A true Slavic one ;-)

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 22, 08, 12:33 / #
Now THAT's intriguing! What is the nature of a true Slavic deamon?

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08	Sep 22, 08, 12:49 / #
The story of the poem is the following: A boy is in love with a mysterious girl, whom he meets every evening and who refuses to say who she is, where she lives and who her parents are. To make her tell him something about herself, he swears her eternal love, fidelity etc. She warns him against breaking the vows and goes away. The boy wanders at night and comes to the shore of the Świteź lake. There, he sees a beautiful female figure, apparently supernatural, who emerges from the water and tries to tempt him. She tells him to dump his beloved and start living with him in the lake. First he resists but finally, he follows the figure to the water, he gets to the middle of the lake, he embraces the phantom and in her face, he recognizes his mysterious beloved. She says he would burn in hell for breaking his vows and they drown together in the water. In the end it is said that every night her ghost (or herself, or whatever) is dancing on the surface of the water and his ghost suffers and moans on the shore. And most probably the name of the poem is the name of that girl/deamon/ghost.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 22, 08, 14:45 / #
Thank you very much for sharing that with us - how very cool. But, look, if you're trying to warn people off, I think you're doing a pretty darn good job of it. >-) You're clearly an educated and cultured young woman (at least, based on your avatar). It's very nice to meet you. Are you an artist? writer? musician? all of the above? Getting back to: Switezianka: For studying instruments he will most probably have to: -prepare some pieces at home and present them (the Academy will name several pieces to choose from) -get some unknown notes and an hour or two to prepare another piece or set of pieces -have an exam in a vista playing So, if he can't play a vista, he can forget about it. I'm pretty sure all of this is beyond my nephew's level. I doubt he has the drive to bring himself to that level, either. It's a common character defect in my family - we do just about as much as we need to, and not much beyond that. Fortunately for me, a few of us have overcome it, but I'm no standout, either.

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08	Sep 22, 08, 15:02 / #
So, maybe he should Rakky: You're clearly an educated and cultured young woman. Oh, thank you... Rakky: Are you an artist? writer? musician? all of the above? I sing, write and compose music but not professionally... yet ;-) I'm thinking about reviving my darkwave project now, so I need to unearth my scores and do something. I think your nephew could study something like Artistic Education on a university but I don't know if he can do it without the knowledge of Polish. The only thing you can study at a music academy without too much formal preparations is vocal.

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 23, 08, 07:11 / #
Switezianka: I sing, write and compose music but not professionally... yet ;-) When you're ready to start I have a young friend in Gorlice/Krakow who is fully prepared to record and mix your CD. Let me know if you'd like his contact information. He's in his fifth year of university this year and just returned from a trip to America where he purchased a LOT of recording and engineering equipment, so he has a "mobile studio" all ready to go. Switezianka: I'm thinking about reviving my darkwave project You say that as if I should know what it means, but, I'm sorry, I do not. What does this mean? Switezianka: only thing you can study at a music academy without too much formal preparations is vocal. I think he needs a couple of years at an American college before he would be ready for an academy. Thank you again for sharing your insights with me.

SwiteziankaThreads: - Posts: 525 Joined: Jun 17, 08	Sep 23, 08, 07:19 / #
Rakky: You say that as if I should know what it means, but, I'm sorry, I do not. What does this mean? To put it simply - some creepy goth stuff based on electronics. But I use some experimental-classical elements of composition in that stuff so it's even harder to listen :)

RakkyThreads: 10 Posts: 284 Joined: May 23, 07	Sep 23, 08, 07:28 / #
Switezianka: I use some experimental-classical elements of composition in that stuff You MUST hook up with my friend in Krakow. He is very big on composers, composition, "church music" and choruses. I think you'd get along quite well. You're not already in Krakow, by any chance, are you? By the way - I just saw one of your postings in another thread in which you identify yourself as an atheist. Me too. Raised by a VERY Catholic mother and (as I found out only a few years ago) an atheist father. Rejected all religion in my early teens when I realized what a crock it all was.