Chair of Piano and String Chamber Music

The Chair of Piano and String Chamber Music is a place gathering music lovers and fans of ensemble playing – teachers and students, performing artists, as well as persons who want to look at music from the academic perspective rather than performance perspective. In 2019, after the merging of the Chair of Piano Chamber Music and the Unit of String Quartets, a large Chair of Piano and String Chamber Music was created. Part of it will be two labs: piano chamber music lab (headed by Prof. UMFC dr hab. Joanna Maklakiewicz) and string quartet lab (headed by Asst. Prof. dr Marek Czech).
The main idea of our activity is “musical partnership”, and its central focus is the education of pianists (in relation to different forms of artistic performance of chamber music) as well as string players (members of a string quartet: violinists, violists and cellists). We prepare students for their professional work in terms of artistic, practical and psychological aspects. 
The idea to create an original structure based on the rule of equal importance of solo and ensemble playing as a canon for shaping a young professional musician of modern time – comes from Prof. Jerzy Marchwiński, just like the term “piano chamber music” itself, which covers the entire non-soloist and non-individual activity of a pianist. Previous heads of the department: Prof. Jerzy Marchwinski, Prof. Maciej Paderewski, Prof. Maja Nosowska, Prof. Katarzyna Jankowska-Borzykowska, dr hab. Robert Morawski, prof. UMFC.
The elements of the profession of a chamber music pianist include such skills as: collaboration with the instrument, collaboration with a singer, playing with another pianist, playing in larger chamber formations (trio, quartet, etc.), playing in an orchestra, playing in a ballet and opera, as well as different forms of teaching work – from working at school with students to coaching mature artists. Similar aspects refer to instrument players from a string quartet.
In the academic year 2017/18, the Chair announced the first enrolment for the newly opened major of 2-year MA studies, specialty PIANO CHAMBER MUSIC. The studies have an intramural or extramural form with English as the language of tuition. They create an opportunity for students to base their selection on their preferences and individual capacities. The curriculum offers an option to focus on, e.g., chamber music, solo piano, analysis of performance styles, score reading, plus interpretation-related topics in contemporary and early music. Our students find employment after graduation.
Detailed conditions for admission can be found here www.chopin.edu.pl/kandydat/rekrutacja
Current area of activity of the Chair of Piano and String Chamber Music:
- teaching – teaching artistic performance in the whole area of chamber music in close collaboration with the Chair of Piano, Chairs of Instruments, Chair of Vocal Studies and Inter-Department Chair of Chamber Music — combined with concert, competition and recording studio performances and inter-university exchange;
- artistic training — an offer for Polish and foreign students (in English, German and Russian) — different options available, e.g. preparation for competitions, expanding repertoire, focusing on collaboration with singers — that includes opera coaching and improvement of professional qualifications for teachers of the subject. Artistic training is available for pianists and instrument players and singers performing with them, as well as instrumentalists who want to improve their qualifications in relation to string quartet performance
- postgraduate studies
- academic activity, organisation of conferences, publishing books, music scores, releasing CDs 
- organisation of theme concerts — included in the University’s concert calendar.