Founded in 1953, the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC), is a European cultural and educational network with the organization’s seat in Utrecht. The AEC includes almost 300 member institutions in 55 countries. The organization’s aims are to initiate and support mutual contact among music academies and schools in various countries, and to realize projects concerning important elements of artistic education of young musicians. The prestigious AEC Annual Congress is organized each time in a new country, in one of the Academies of Music associated in the AEC.

Professor Jagna Dankowska, the Pro-Rector for Student and Foreign Affairs and Marek Bykowski, the Chancellor of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, at the press conference on the 29th of October emphasized that it is a great honor for the Academy to host the Congress. At the same time it is a good opportunity to promote the Warsaw’s institution. Decision to organize the 2010 Congress in Poland was taken in 2008, not only to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin birth, but also to appreciate the Warsaw’s institution’s achievements. The November Congress is expected to gather the biggest number of participants in the AEC’s history.