3rd International Piano Competition for Primary and Secondary Music Schools

Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna I stopnia im. Emila Młynarskiego (State Primary Music School of Emil Młynarski) in Augustów is run by the Mistry of Culture and the National Heritage and is directly supervised by the Centre of Artistic Education in Warsaw.

Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna im. Emila Młynarskiego (State Primary Music School of Emil Młynarski) is an artistic school following only musical educational curriculum.


Primary goals of our school are: developing musical talents of our students and preparing them both for further musical studies and participation in various musical activities.

Primary music schools impart musical appreciation in their students, but at the same time provide indispensable foundation for futher musical studies.

Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna (State Primary Music School) in Augustów provides education in performance on nine instruments: violin, piano, guitar, cello, accordion, percussion, flute, clarinet, saxophone.

Our educational offer includes:
- individual lesson (instrumental performance) twice a week
- group lessons (rhythmicity, ear training, musical literature)
- participation in various forms of collective musical activities (choir, orchestra, chamber groups)
- participation free of charge in important musical events, such as festivals and concerts of renowned musicians
- renting school intruments
- professional, experienced teachers
- good instructive conditions (hand made stringed musical instruments, six grand pianos)
- great selection of books and sheet music at the school library (over 7 thousand titles)
- spacious, aesthetically arranged classrooms


Candidates for training in our school are selected on the basis of entrance examinations carried out at the end on May or the beginning of June each year.

There are two educational programs at the school: six – year for younger children and four – year for older ones.

Although there are many concerts and recitals organized at the school, our students are frequently asked to perform during major events in town, adding splendour to the occassions.

HISTORY

   Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna im. Emila Młynarskiego (State Primary Music School of Emil Młynarski) in Augustów is located in the complex of three historical buildings constructed in 1829, called “ The Old Post Office”.
   “The Old Post Office” complex, registered under the number of 30 in the registry of the Voivodeship’s Conservator of Monuments, was constructed according to the plan of Henry Marconi for servicing mail on the main local high road.
   Suites of the “Old Post Office” hosted many notable public characters, such as Helene, the wife of the Great Prince Michael Pavlovich, brother of the tsar Alexander the Second.
   On the 1st September of 1853, the queen of Netherlands, Anna, sister of the tsar Nicholas the First , dined here.
   After 1862, when the St. Petersburg railway was opened, the complex served as a typical post office.
   During the World War II the buildings were ruined.
After the reconstrucion, completed in 1963, the main building served as a hotel. Town and District Public Library was located at the right wing, while the left wing was a seat of the Town Office of Sport and Recreation.
   In 1979 the buildings and the grounds surrounding them were given by the Town President to the State Primary Music School in Augustów.
   In the years 1974 – 1976 the shool was a branch of the Music School is Suwałki, managed by Jacek Puchnowski.
   On the 1st of September, 1976 , on the strength of the decree of the Minister of Culture, Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna I stopnia (State Primary Music School) in Augustów was created.
   Andrzej Rząca became the first principal of the school. The first teachers of the school were: Bożena Mickiewicz, Eugeniusz Ajdamach, Anna Gisztarowicz – Białobłocka, Halina Osiecka, Andrzej Rząca.
Main achievements of the first principal, Andrzej Rząca, are without doubt: adaptation the buildings for the purpose of the school, as well as organizing musical activities in town.
   In the 1980s, next to already existing: piano, accordion, violin and cello classes, woodwind instrument classes were opened at school.
   Accordion and violin students of the school won numerous national awards at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. At the same time periodical cello and accordion competitions were organized.
In 1992 the guitar class was opened, bringing regional, national and international awards to the school.
   From 1995 to 2005 Tadeusz Giedrojć served as the principal. During that time the school followed its best tradition and continued to expand educational activities.
   A special educational programme, created in cooperation with the municipal department of education, allowed many students from elementary schools of Augustów to be trained musically. The Music School became an important cultural centre in town.
   In 1999 the first Summer Festival of Chamber Music was organized, which became a periodical event.
   In 1998 a constantly developing percussion class was opened. In 2000 and 2001 piano and accordion students received awards at national and international competitions.
   In 2005 Dariusz Michałowski became the principal of the school, dynamically developing educational activities and artistic life of the school. On his initiative in September 2007 the National Consultative Point of the Centre of Artistic Education in Warsaw was created in Augustów in the specialty of guitar performance. A year later, a piano performance consultative point was opened as well. Owing to that, there is a possibility of participating in the seminars and open classes of the most renowned pedagogical authorities, conducted at the school.
   In April 2008 the first Augustów International Piano Competition was held at the Music School, which attracted crowds of young pianists from Poland and abroad as well as inspired artistic rivalry.
 

tłumaczenie: Danuta Long