The Music School Complex in Poznań consists of public art schools:
- Karol Kurpiński State Primary Music School
- Fryderyk Chopin State Secondary Music School
- Jadwiga Kaliszewska Secondary Music School
- Czesław Niemen Singing Vocational College
The Music School Complex in Poznań continues traditions of pre-war Poznań conservatoires which were reestablished after World War II. With 600 pupils and almost 200 teachers and administration staff the complex hosts four music schools, each with its own curriculum and focused on a different student profile. The staff, facilities, and events integrate the schools whose common ground is educating new generations to cherish musical heritage as well as participate creatively in musical activities.
Karol Kurpiński Primary Music School, founded in 1945, trains about 330 pupils in a six-year-long children division (ages 9-15), and a four-year-long teenagers division (ages 10-16). Apart from the music school, students attend comprehensive primary and secondary schools in Poznań and its neighbourhood. The school houses choirs, chamber groups, and a string orchestra which perform on the school premises and other venues, including international student exchanges. Approximately half of its graduates continue their musical education in schools of higher degrees.
Fryderyk Chopin Secondary Music School enjoys an over 70 year-long tradition. It prepares students aged 13-21 for further education in music academies and for professional careers. About 200 pupils from secondary schools of Poznań and Greater Poland as well as university students attend the school composed of five divisions: instrumental, vocal, eurhythmics, jazz and popular music, and performing arts (singing). Upon graduation students receive a professional certificate. The school has choirs, chamber groups, a symphony orchestra and a big-band. Every year 20-40% of its graduates continue their education in music academies.
Jadwiga Kaliszewska Secondary Music School was established in 1990 as a form of specialized education for talented youth. It is the only school within the Music Shool Complex that offers academic education and ends with school-leaving examinations. Its unique form of teaching, developed from an experiment into an efficient system of training musically gifted pupils, has led to the mass media naming it as the “School of Talents”. On average the school hosts 60 pupils both from Poznań and other Polish towns. Almost all its graduates pursue their further education in music academies in Poland and abroad.
Czesław Niemen Singing Vocational College has trained young people to become pop artists since 1979. It is the only school of this type in Poland with only 15 students on average. The two-year curriculum consists of individual and group lessons of song interpretation, voice emission, piano and other instruments, stage performance, dance and theory of music. The graduates work in various fields of entertainment as lead singers, music group members, as well as managers in artistic agencies.
