Dear Visitor,

I warmly welcome you to the renewed website of the Faculty of Performance Arts and Design at Széchenyi István University, Győr, where you can find important information primarily related to the music education programmes of the Faculty. Here, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Design Department, an organizational unit established in 2020 at the Faculty of Performing Arts, operates its own website, which can be found at the following address: https://www.designcampus.hu/

Our institution is one of the six Hungarian higher education institutions offering music education.

The beginnings of higher music education in Győr date back to the period after World War II. Initially within the framework of the State Music Vocational Secondary School, and then independently from 1966, but still in a shared building - it continued at the Győr Branch of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. After a few years, the institution took on the name "Institute for Music Education of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music". Organized and professionally supervised as branches of the Liszt Academy, it operated for three decades. In 1996, the Institute was integrated into Széchenyi István College in Győr, which became a university in 2002. With the organizational transformation of Széchenyi István University on 1 January 2006, the music faculty adopted the name of the world-renowned violinist born in Győr, Tibor Varga. The Tibor Varga Institute of Music Education was elevated to faculty status on 1 January 2017. In addition to music education programmes, as of 2021, at the Faculty of Performance Arts and Design, students of Győr University can also study architecture, graphic design, and industrial design at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the Design Department.

Since its inception, our institution has awarded more than 1000 music teaching diplomas. Our former students can be found throughout the country, primarily in the teaching staff of music schools north of Lake Balaton. We also find many of our former students in the Győr and Szombathely symphony orchestras, as well as in the orchestras of theatres in the Transdanubian region.

In addition to teaching and educational work, numerous ensembles have been established, expanding the timetable, achieving significant professional success (Győr Girls' Choir, Győr Clarinet and Percussion Ensemble, Győr University Orchestra, Győr Symphonic Band, University Choir).

Traditionally, the Department of Solo Instruments and Music Theory, as well as the Department of Orchestral Instruments at the Faculty of Performance Arts, train orchestral and chamber musicians, instrumentalists, music school teachers, and art teachers. With the introduction of the Bologna system, we received permission to launch BA undergraduate programs, followed by teacher master programmes from 2010. Since 2011, we have been able to accept students for classical flute and clarinet, from 2015 for violin, trumpet, piano, and from 2019 for cello and oboe artists, as well as for conductor-artist MA programmes. Since 2013, the undivided music teacher training programme has been launched, replacing the divided system of music teacher training, with a more favourable subject structure and distribution than before.

In accordance with the pedagogical and professional requirements of unified teacher training, the Faculty of Performance Arts has traditional primary performance arts education and secondary arts school connections, which enable successful and effective teacher training. Students can complete their music school pedagogical practice and their school methodological practice at the Richter János Music Vocational Secondary School, the Bartók Béla Primary School of Music, and the Franz Liszt Music School.

Our institution is located in the complex of the former Győr synagogue, built in 1870 and representing significant architectural heritage. The beautifully restored synagogue has become one of the country's most beautiful concert halls, where orchestral rehearsals, student, and diploma concerts are held.

Dr. Csaba Hontvári - Dean      hontvari.csaba@sze.hu