The Medieval and Renaissance Music Lab was established in December 2020 by Rector prof. dr hab. Hanna Kostrzewska, and is operating within the Department of Historical Performance Practices. It was originated and founded by prof. dr hab. Maria Banaszkiewicz-Bryła, Head of the Department.

The activity of the Lab is focused on the didactic, educational, artistic and academic areas. It is aimed at broadening of knowledge and improvement of practice in the art of playing the lute and other instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as well as broadly understood performance of early music.

The Lab’s tasks also include organizing courses, conferences, academic and artistic sessions, recordings, festivals and concerts, as well as creating academic publications in collaboration with the Paderewski Academy of Music Press. The activities are aimed at developing the technique of playing instruments of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, with particular emphasis on lute instruments, as well as at broadening the knowledge and educating staff and students of the Academy in the field of historically informed performance. Work is also planned on editing and developing source musical note materials for educational, academic and popularizing purposes, as well as translating important texts related to early music, which have not yet found their way into the Polish language.

The projects include collaboration with teachers, artists and ensembles both from Poland and abroad. The proposed scope of research includes:

• vocal music (chorale, polyphonic music, songs),
• instrumental music (compositions for plucked string instruments, compositions for wind instruments),
• historiographic research: catalogs of compositions, iconographic catalogs, catalogs of theoretical issues (poetry, literature).