International Cooperation

Our University has played an important role in the development and implementation of promotion of Polish music and cultural and educational mission around the world. It collaborates with numerous foreign HEIs. It strengthens and constantly develops the existing contacts and establishes collaboration with new institutions.

Since 2014, the UMFC has participated in the Era¬smu¬s+ Programme (earlier known as Era-smus – Lifelong Learning Programme). Erasmus Policy Statement allows for supporting and developing the integrated European Higher Education Area, hence the basis of our activity is the teaching, academic and artistic exchange as part of inter-university contracts. The current number of contracts exceeds 130. Within the past four years approximately 120 students and over 60 UMFC employees (both academic and administrative ones) went to European countries as part of the Erasmus exchange. At the same time our University was visited by a similar number of professors and students from abroad.
The Chopin University of Music constantly establishes relations with cultural centres and education-related institutions around the world. As part of broad-based activities we promote not only artistic activity of the most talented students but also national values and heritage.

The University constantly aims towards widening its teaching offer and it holds exchange with other HEIs. As part of its activity, in the period of 2016–2020 we established and have continued collaboration with such institutions as:
•    Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, USA),
•    Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, (Vienna, Austria),
•    Hochschule für Musik und Theater (Hamburg, Germany),
•    European Chamber Music Teachers' Association (Tallinn, Estonia),
•    Hochschule der Künste Bern (Switzerland),
•    Hochschule für Musik - Erich Thienhaus-Institut (Detmold, Germany),
•    Concorso Società Umanitaria in Milan (Italy),
•    International Music Students Festival in Kyoto (Japan),
•    Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (Budapest, Hungary),
•    Keimyung – Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music (Daegu, South Korea),
•    Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Tallinn, Estonia),
•    Universität der Künste Berlin (Germany),
•    Shanghai Conservatory of Music (China),
•    Zhejiang Conservatory of Music (China),
•    Tokyo College of Music (Japan),
•    Youth Academy of Arts in Moscow (Russia),
•    Korean Cultural Center,
•    Kangwon National University (South Korea),
•    SOAI University in Osaka (Japan),
•    Haute École de musique de Genève (Switzerland).

One of the basic premises for teaching activity of the UMFC is creating extra opportunities for development for our students. As part of the vision understood that way, we organise joint academic conferences and music festivals (Daegu, Kyoto, Lisbona, Moskwa, Tallin, Zhejiang) as well as masterclasses and meetings with outstanding and renowned artists such as: Mária Apagyi, Sérgio & Odair Assad, Daria Balsyte, Carla Bertola, Shirley Brill, Carlos Bruneel, Bart Claessens, Bruno Cocset, Roxy Coss, Roberto Díaz, Carsten Eckert, Gábor Eckhardt, Colby Fahrenbach, Randall E. Faust, Liu Feng, Michael Flaksman, Dan Fornero, Roberto Galletto, Alexander Gebert, Philippe Giusiano, Irina Greifer, Marcus Hadulla, Robert Holzer, Simon Höfele, Hans de Jong, Patrick Jüdt, Bomsori Kim, Lang Lang,  Jérôme Laran, Kit Sum Esther Li, Janis Maleckis, Branford Marsalis, Alex Mercado, Eric Miyashiro, Ryō Noda,  Greg Osby, Paulo Pacheco, Pier Angelo Pelucchi, Cao Xiao-Qing, Joonatan Rautiola, Evan Rothstein, Robert W. Rumbelow, Irene Uss-Armoniene, Natalie Sakkos, Samuela Seidenberg, Gunta Sproģe, Jurij Szyszkin, Samuel Torres, Arie Vardi, Frank-Immo Zichner.

Since 1998, our University has collaborated with Keimyung University in Daegu (South Korea). In 2017 Daegu was visited by a group of UMFC students who, supported by their counterparts from Keimyung University in a joined symphony orchestra, performed two concerts entitled “Polish film music by Krzesimir Dębski” under the baton of the composer. The project was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Since Academic Year 2019/2020, collaboration with our Korean partner has slightly changed its shape. One of key premises of our new contract is giving masterclasses by our renowned teachers to students of Keimyung University in Daegu.
Worth noting is also the collaboration with the famous Japanese Kyoto International Music Students Festival. Since 2017, our students have been regularly representing our University, successfully performing during concerts organised as part of the festival.

Based on the exchange project between the UMFC and University of Arts in Bern, our teachers have cyclically given masterclasses in Switzerland for almost 20 years. At the beginning of 2017, employees and students of the Department of Sound Engineering and students majoring in Piano Chamber Music took part in classes and the recording of a concert at Hochschule für Musik and Erich Thienhaus-Institut (equivalent of the Department of Sound Engineering) in Detmold. The visit was part of the programme called “Music Meetings Warsaw – Detmold”.

An important event in the life of the UMFC was its participation in the International Studen-t’s Chamber Music Festival organised in Tartu by the Estonian Academy of Music and The-atre and Tartu Heino Eller Music College. A group of students supervised by teachers took part in concerts and masterclasses of chamber music.

A significant element of our University’s foreign collaboration are contacts with China. Only in the last three years the UMFC was visited by delegates from Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzou, Canton and Jangxi. Our guests were delighted with the University and interested in collaboration with us.

In April 2018, as part of the implementation of the project called “The Promotion of Polish Culture Abroad – Promise 2018”, a cycle of concerts of Polish chamber music featuring teachers and students from our University was held in Estonia. Concerts were accompanied by workshops and lectures. Poland was the organiser of the exhibition “The Warsaw Autumn”. The events were co-organised by the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn.

In May 2018, a festival called “Youth Academy of Arts” was held in Moscow. The festival took place in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw. It was a magnificent opportunity to promote Polish music in Russia and to bring closer the communities of musically talented youth from Poland and Russia.

In the same month, Polish delegates with His Magnificence Rector Prof. Klaudiusz Baran participated in the ceremonies commemorating 119 years of Keimyung University in Daegu. On that occasion, our delegates were guests of the closing gala of the Asia Pacific Internatio-nal Chopin Piano Competition.

A special event was a visit to the UMFC of Macedonian delegates from the Tomislav Zogra-fski Foundation. A great honour was the meeting with Panda Zografska – wife of the composer and president of the foundation. Ms Zografska gave us the scores and CDs with his works and our University became an honorary member of the foundation.
In May/June 2018, the TRI Schools Festival – the first cycle of concerts as part of the trilateral agreement of three universities: Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and UMFC, was held in Shanghai. In the academic year 2019/2020 our University was a host for artists from China and Hungary as part of this agreement.

It is also for many years that our University has organised cyclic masterclasses featuring foreign guests. Among them are the International Music Course and Festival „From Chopin to Górecki”, Course for Japanese students called POLJA (for students from Soai University in Osaka), or piano course for students from Tokyo College of Music.
An important event in the life of our University was the 22nd edition of the music course known as Morningside Music Bridge which was organised in the summer of 2018 together with representatives of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra from Canada.

In November 2018, during the Forum of Rectors of Music Universities China – East-European Countries in Hangzhou attached to Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in China, we signed a cooperation agreement between 16 East-European countries and China. The congress also resulted in the establishment of the Association of Music Universities China – East-European Countries.

The Chopin University of Music is a member of the Association Européenne des Conservato-ires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen, gathering over 300 music HEIs. The UMFC actively participates in the AEC’s activities concerning the factual sphere of the process of education as well as the organisation of the system of teaching; that is due to the fact that the Association as partner as part of the EU programmes animates the efforts for the benefit of the improvement of the system of higher education in Europe. Each year, representatives of our University participate in a congress during which bilateral and multilateral proposals of collaboration are made (among others) and there is also an exchange of experiences related to teaching programmes. The meetings allow for the improvement of music education standards.