Welcome to the University of Music in Łódź! Come and study with us in a unique and exciting atmosphere of this place: in a monumental Neo-Renaissance palace as well as in two modern buildings with concert halls and plenty of lecture and practice rooms. Here you can study with the most distinguished professors and artists. Our students win numerous prizes at international competitions and festivals. Studying at the University of Music in Łódź also means an intensive artistic activity: concerts with the academic orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles, jazz big-band, and student opera productions. Studying with us will give you great satisfaction and opportunities for your future career.
HISTORY
The history of the University of Music in Łódź goes back to the early years of the 20th century. At the time Helena Kijeńska-Dobkiewiczowa founded a Music Conservatory, where she gathered a team of outstanding musicians and teachers. After WWII, the school was reactivated, first as the State Music Conservatory (1945) and then as the State Higher School of Music (since April 1946). The seat of the School was moved to the palace at 32 Gdańska St., erected in the 1900s for Karol Poznański, the son of one of the richest textile industrialists Izrael Kalmanowicz Poznański.
In 1982, the Higher School of Music gained the qualifications of University and in 1999 it adopted the name of Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz. The patrons are two distinguished artists born in Łódź: Grażyna Bacewicz, an excellent composer and violinist, and Kiejstut Bacewicz, her brother, a great chamber musician, pianist and pedagogue. Over seventy years of its activity, the University of Music in Łódź educated a broad array of eminent personalities in the world of music; an array of artists who made the name of their Alma Mater famous in Poland and all over the world and who successfully testify to a high level of Polish music education. Among its renowned graduates there are such artists as Jan Krenz, Urszula Kryger, Teresa Kubiak, Piotr Pławner, Kazimierz Serocki, Wanda Wiłkomirska, Teresa Żylis-Gara, and many others. The Senate of the University of Music conferred the greatest academic honour – the honoris causa doctorate in Musical Arts – on thirteen distinguished artists, significant personalities of music life of Poland, Łódź and the University: Aleksander Tansman (1986), Prof. Kiejstut Bacewicz (1993), Prof. Zenon Płoszaj (1996), Prof. Franciszek Wesołowski (1999), Prof. Teresa Kubiak (2005), Prof. Wanda Wiłkomirska (2006), Jerzy Semkow (2013), Prof. Zygmunt Krauze (2015), Prof. Stanisław Firlej (2015), Prof. Teresa Żylis-Gara (2016), Irena Santor (2017), Jan Krenz (2018) and Kevin Kenner (2018).
STAFF
The University offers the highest quality education provided by high level specialists who give classes in instrumental and vocal performance, conducting, composition, eurhythmics, choreography and music therapy, as well as experienced teachers giving lectures on music theory. The University also conducts studies in specialty of jazz performance, musical theater, sound engineering and stage vocal performance, as well as music in media studies. The study program is often enriched with additional master classes, seminars, workshops, or lectures (many of them given by visiting professors from renowned institutions from all over the world).
ACADEMIC YEAR
The academic year in Poland is divided into two semesters – winter and summer, each lasting 15 weeks. The winter semester usually starts on 1st October and lasts till mid-February, with Christmas break of about ten days. The examination session usually begins at the end of January and lasts for two or three weeks. The summer semester starts in mid-February and ends in June, with a one-week break for Easter. Summer holidays take three months – from the beginning of July till the end of September, but only for the students who passed all their exams during the summer examination session (two/three weeks in June). Those who did not succeed re-take their exam(s) in September.
Entrance exams are obligatory and are held at the end of June and in July.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The University of Music in Łódź actively participates in the Erasmus+ Programme, which gives every student the possibility to study at a chosen partner institution. The list of Erasmus+ partnerships comprises over 60 higher education schools, i.a. in Austria, Italy, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Slovakia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland and other countries. Apart from the Erasmus exchange programme, our students often participate in various workshops, competitions and master classes abroad. The University extends its international contacts as a long-time member of AEC (The Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen). We are also a member of the European Opera Academy – a platform for professional opera and musical theatre education. On the basis of individual agreements and projects, our institution also cooperates with some Chinese conservatoires, education agencies and culture centres (i.a. Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Xiamen).
FACILITIES
The University of Music is located in a historic palace, which gives the place timeless charm and creates a unique atmosphere to study and perform. At the same time, the University modernizes and develops its infrastructure for better comfort of present and prospective students.
In October 2013, the University officially opened a newly-built Concert Hall with great acoustics, excellent recording and sound system equipment, a professional recording studio and broad didactic base.
At the beginning of the academic year of 2014/2015, in a close proximity of the palace, we opened a modern building of the Regional Centre for Culture, Education and Music Documentation, which significantly broadens educational and cultural offer of the institution. On four floors of the building, one may find a chamber hall for 200 people, a library and sound recordings library, a recording studio, a sound laboratory, numerous practice rooms and lecture halls.
NEW INSTRUMENTS
In academic year of 2018/2019 the University carried out a wide-ranging project, worth 20 million zloty, involving purchase of numerous instruments: grand pianos, woodwinds and brass, string, percussion and early instruments (including two harpsichords), organ and electronic keyboard instruments.
DORMITORY
The University has its own student Dormitory (Hall of Residence), situated in immediate proximity of the Concert Hall at 2a Żubardzka Street. In the academic year of 2017/2018, the dormitory building was thoroughly renovated and rebuilt. Students have 24 double rooms and 12 triple rooms at their disposal, as well as shared leisure area and practice rooms. Each double room is provided with en suite kitchen and bathroom. Occupants of triple rooms have access to shared kitchen facilities and high-standard bathrooms on the same floor. All rooms are equipped with a free internet connection. Modern reception desk, laundry and drying room are located on the ground floor. The reception desk, surveillance system of the whole building and multilingual staff working 24/7 ensure protection against potential intruders. The interior of the building is disabled-friendly (no doorsteps).
