prof. dr hab. Magdalena Blum

A graduate of the Academy of Music in Wrocław, where she studied piano under Zdzisława Rychlewska. After a year of working at her alma mater (she began working there as a student), she was invited to Shattuck St. Mary's School as an artist in residence. During her stay, she gave numerous concerts, performing both as a soloist – giving recitals and concerts with orchestras – and as a chamber musician (with vocalists and instrumentalists). She also co-created a musical production as a pianist. She also honed her skills with Prof. De Wayne Wee in Northfield, MN, USA. Her stay in the US resulted in further job offers and concert engagements, but Magdalena Blum decided to continue her work at the Academy of Music in Wrocław.

She is a laureate of the 3rd National Liszt Competition. She also won the preliminary round in the piano category of the WAMSO multi-instrumental competition in Minneapolis. She has given concerts in Russia (St. Petersburg, including the Great Concert Hall of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory), several times in the United States (including last year at Carnegie Hall) and in many European countries. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at music festivals in Vienna and Gaming (Chopin Festival).

She has participated (as an accompanist) in international vocal competitions in Warsaw, Karlovy Vary, Oslo, and Toulouse. As a chamber pianist, she has worked on numerous master classes in interpretation, including in Wrocław (Wratislavia Cantans), Duszniki-Zdrój, Vienna (at the Hochschule für Musik), Radziejowice, Görlitz, Nowy Sącz, and Monaco. During these courses, she worked with professors Ralf Döring, Eugeniusz Sąsiadek, Christina Hampe, Włodzimierz Zalewski, Bogdan Makal, Rusko Ruskow, Ewa Czermak, Christian Elssner, Andrzej Dobber, Agnieszka Rehlis, Sylvain Cambreling, Joshard Daus, Izabella Kłosińska, Helga Meyer-Wagner, Elizabeth Wilke, Ryszard Karczykowski, and Maestra Teresa Żylis-Gara. She has received several awards for best chamber pianist at vocal competitions.

She has recorded for Polish Radio and Television and is a co-performer on five CDs: “Arie i Pieśni Mistrzów Włoskiego Bel Canta” (MCA; 2001), “Il Convegno” (DUX; 2004) and “Consortium Musicum” (JBRecords: 2006), Witold Friemann (KTM, 2009), Fryderyk Chopin-Transcriptions (Acte Prealable 2010), “Elegie” (Polskie Nagrania, 2012), for which she received the Wrocław Music Award for 2012 (category: classical music).

She is a professor and works as a chamber musician at the Vocal Department and the Instrumental Department. She is constantly expanding her repertoire and areas of interest. For two years she has been collaborating with the Europa Chor Akademie in Görlitz, where she has the opportunity to work with conductors Sylvain Cambreling and Joshard Daus, preparing concerts with a large cast for the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. A few months ago, as a last-minute replacement for the orchestra, she performed her part in Mendelssohn's oratorio “Paulus” at concerts in Germany with an international cast of soloists and choir. The concerts were so successful that Magdalena Blum was invited by the organisers to perform again with the same line-up in the 2020-2021 artistic season.

Between 2008 and 2016, she was twice elected vice-rector of her alma mater. In addition to her duties (which include ensuring and coordinating the submission of documentation for parametric evaluation, where all departments of the Wrocław university received an “A” rating, and the departments were awarded grants to maintain their research potential as a result of this achievement , which were not present at the university at the time), the Rector of AMKL, Prof. Krystian Kiełb, entrusted her with, among other things:

preparing the Self-Assessment Report for European Institutional Accreditation, which the Wrocław university underwent on a pilot basis in 2010,
participation in the Wrocław Culture Council preparing Wrocław's application for the title of European Capital of Culture 2016,
participation in the work of the team for the establishment of the Wrocław Academic Union,
participation in the work of the Steering Committee for Wrocław - European Capital of Culture 2016,
preparation of the establishment of the “English division,”
preparation of the establishment of the Open Academy of Music,
coordination of projects prepared by AMKL for the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016,
management of the European Student Symphony Orchestra project as part of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016,
appointment of a team to study the work of Karol Lipiński; Prof. Mieczysław Tomaszewski, Irena Poniatowska, and Konstanty Andrzej Kulka agreed to join the Honorary Committee patronizing the publication of the composer's works;
Magdalena Blum is the initiator of the Academic Duet Competition, initially vocal and later also instrumental. The formula of the competition proved to be successful: it was initially extended to the universities of Katowice, then Krakow and Łódź, and this year the competition was to have its first nationwide edition, with numerous promotional concerts for its winners – unfortunately, it did not take place due to the pandemic.

As vice-rector, Magdalena Blum has participated several times in conferences on music research, including performance specializations, at the Guidhall School of Music (Reflective Conservatoire) in Rome, Lyon, and Stockholm (European Platform for Research in Music). This has enabled her to conduct several doctoral proceedings more efficiently and in a modern manner, as well as to inspire young researchers. Magdalena Blum is currently supervising her fifth doctoral student.

Magdalena Blum has organized several charity concerts, including a large concert prompted by the dramatic events in Ukraine in 2014, entitled “Wrocław Artists for Ukraine.” The concert was supported by the Wrocław Opera, the Wrocław Philharmonic, and the City of Wrocław. Dozens of artists played for Ukraine in the Concert Hall of the Wrocław Academy. It was the first concert of this scale in Poland in a series of concerts organized later for the same purpose.

In December 2018, the Rector of the Academy of Music in Wrocław, Prof. Grzegorz Kurzyński, entrusted Magdalena Blum with coordinating the grant obtained by the academy from the National Agency for Academic Exchange, “Eastern Academic Artistic Platform.” A team of coordinators was appointed, tasks and responsibilities for their implementation were assigned, and a schedule and form of implementation of the project were established to ensure its optimal use for the academy, in accordance with the principle that priority is given to any scientific and artistic activity that brings the academy points for parametric evaluation. The project is currently in progress, and due to the pandemic, permission has been granted to extend its deadline.

Magdalena Blum's activities are therefore multi-layered, as she is involved in chamber and solo performance, teaching, creating conditions for a greater presence of music in society, promoting the development of chamber music, organizational activities, and inspiring young academic staff to engage in scientific research.

In 2020-2024, Prof. Magdalena Blum served as Vice-Rector for Artistic and Scientific Affairs.