44 Collective by Piotr Kozłowski – Harlem, NY

🎓 Lesson Packages: 📆 Once a Week (4 lessons/month): ideal for consistent growth and long-term development 🎹 At our location or online – $600/month 🎻 At student’s home – $700/month 🧑‍🎓 One monthly studio class in West Harlem 📒 Personalized Notion page with repertoire notes, practice plans, and ideas 🎥 One personalized video review per month ⚡ Twice a Week (8 lessons/month – Intensive): perfect for students preparing for auditions, competitions, or wanting accelerated progress 🎹 At our location or online – $1,000/month 🎻 At student’s home – $1,200/month 🧑‍🎓 One monthly studio class in West Harlem 📒 Expanded Notion page with detailed planning, reflections, and repertoire timelines 🎥 One personalized video review per month

We begin with a free trial meeting or lesson, where we get to know each other and discuss your experience, interests, and goals. This session is a chance to talk openly about expectations, learning style, and musical direction. From there, we design a customized plan of study, selecting repertoire and approaches tailored to your individual strengths, needs, and aspirations. Whether you’re preparing for auditions, returning to music after a break, or exploring a new instrument, our goal is to support your growth through clear structure, creativity, and encouragement.

My name is Piotr Kozłowski, and I’m a Polish pianist with over 20 years of experience in solo and chamber performance, teaching, and artistic collaboration. I founded 44 Collective to bring music into spaces where it can live, breathe, and inspire across disciplines, generations, and borders. I earned my Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, where I also worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. I taught applied piano lessons, keyboard studies, and worked closely with both undergraduate and graduate students in performance. Before that, I completed two Master’s degrees in Piano Performance and Piano Chamber Music at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, one of the leading conservatories in Europe. I also spent time as an exchange student in Vienna, focusing on performance practice and interpretation. I’ve helped students develop personalized programs of study, prepare for competitions and performances, and reconnect with music after years away. I enjoy working with each student to shape a path that fits their experience level, interests, and goals.

I started teaching during my master’s program in Warsaw and have been doing it ever since. I quickly realized how much I enjoy working with students, guiding their development, and sharing the process of learning and discovering music. The idea for the collective comes from an ongoing need I’ve felt to promote the belief that collaborative music-making builds not just musical skills, but also interpersonal and social ones. It teaches us how to listen, how to support each other, and how to create something together. These are essential values, especially in today’s world. My teaching is rooted in the idea that music helps us grow as people. It creates connection, fosters understanding, and reaches beyond background, nationality, or identity. I believe in music as a tool for both personal expression and deeper community.

My teaching experience is broad and diverse. I’ve worked with: 🎓 University students preparing for recitals, exams, and graduate school auditions 🌍 Adult learners through my work with tonebase, an international platform for advanced online study 🎻 Children and teens in structured music schools and private studio settings, in both Europe and the United States

A recent project I’m especially proud of is a solo piano program I’ve been preparing for an upcoming performance this fall, centered around Central European music. The idea for the program started about a month ago, and I’m currently in the process of learning and shaping the repertoire. It includes works by Polish, Czech, and Finnish composers, specifically Madetoja, Janáček, Szymanowski, and Chopin. By placing these composers side by side, I aim to reflect the emotional and cultural complexity of artists who, like me, have lived between identities, languages, and borders. Many of them were shaped by exile, displacement, and a deep longing for home. These are themes that continue to resonate in my own life as a Polish artist living and working in New York. This city, full of movement and multiplicity, has become a place where I can shape my voice and contribute to a community that values artistic exploration. What I’m most excited about is the program’s flexibility. Many of the works, including violin and cello sonatas by Szymanowski, Janáček, and Chopin, are easily transferable into chamber music settings, allowing the program to grow into a collaborative project as well. This project also connects to the founding idea behind 44 Collective. The name "44" is drawn from the visionary Polish play Dziady by Adam Mickiewicz, in which a prophetic figure, referred to only as “forty and four,” emerges as a symbol of hope, transformation, and cultural renewal. While originally nationalistic, I reinterpret that figure not as a savior, but as a collective artistic force, shaped by movement, collaboration, and a deep belief in the power of music to build bridges between people.

Make sure the person you choose aligns with your expectations, not just in terms of credentials and experience, but also in personality and communication style. Learning and creating music is a personal process, and having someone who understands your goals, respects your pace, and inspires you can make a huge difference. Trust and connection matter just as much as technical skill.

Keep your goals and expectations in mind.