Research capacity

• number of active full-time lecturers: 28
• number of active qualified full-time lecturers: 12
• number of active students: 136

Scientific activities

Our institution is located in the group of buildings of the former Synagogue that includes one of the most beautiful concert halls of the country. The Concert Hall of the university is not only a place for training but a favourite scene for the people who are interested in culture and artistic life in Győr.

There are two departments of the institution: the Department of Solo Instruments and Music Theory, and the Department of Orchestral Instruments. We are training instrumental artists, orchestral and chamber musicians and instrumental teachers. Students participating in the Master’s Degree Programme in Teacher of Music can accomplish their pedagogical and professional methodological practice at the Richter János Secondary School of Music and Institution for Basic Education of Arts.

There are three great ensembles in our institution: the University Symphony Orchestra led by Gergely Ménesi, and the Győr Symphonic Band led by Ferenc Szabó; both are regular participators in the concert life our city. Our most recent group is the Győr University Philharmonic Choir, which mainly consists of university students; however, it would like to attract citizens longing for singing. Its aim is to primarily perform oratorios.

Main research fields

1. In-depth study of stylistic, technical, and musical problems in the performance of baroque, Viennese classical, romantic, 20th century and contemporary works,
2. Effective development of abilities, competencies and skills for chamber music performance,
3. Orchestral performance practice,
4. Opportunities of development in the pedagogy, methodology of instrumental performance, and consistent exploration of repertoire in the applied area,
5. History of music, aesthetics of music, music theory.

Research projects

•  Széchenyi István University has won a significant sum thanks to the EU grant within the project TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/1-2010-0010 for the development of talent support and scientific training workshops, of which Varga Tibor Institute of Musical Art has won a tender for organizing a national festival for contemporary Hungarian piano oeuvre.
• We invited the pianists of the musical higher education institutions of the country for the in-depth exploration of the contemporary Hungarian piano literature, which receives unjustly little attention in our piano education. This invitation, considering current economic possibilities, was unique and special in that we could provide quality courses and full board to anyone interested, completely free of charge. The guest professors of our courses were Klára Körmendi and András Kemenes, then Gábor Eckhardt and Balázs Kecskés, all of them professors at the Liszt Ferenc Academy, who are continuously including contemporary music in their repertoire, who are both excellent performers and great pedagogues, with a good amount of experience in terms of knowledge and expectations that can be transferred in each course.

  A real workshop has been established during the sessions, for which the chamber room of the institute was an ideal location. In addition to the good number of students from Győr, our invitation was accepted by pianists from Miskolc, Pécs, Szeged and Budapest, together with several teachers. It was also a pleasure for us to see the teachers and students of the local music school and vocational high school at these performances of real public interest. The students of our piano major participated in the events in a surprisingly and pleasingly great number, considering the learnt and experienced things useful and meaningful without exception.

Our guests were also grateful for and gave positive feedback about this exceptional opportunity, where representatives of the profession could really meet. The fourth international wind band conductor master course was held in March 2013, led by the outstanding member of the international wind instrument world, professor of the University of Florida, László Marosi. Students from Germany and Austria also arrived for the course. The topic of the course was the problems of performance of works composed for symphonic bands and ensembles in recent years.