Slávka Kopčáková

Prof. PaedDr. Slávka Kopčáková, PhD. is a Slovak musicologist, aesthetician, musician, and educator. She is a qualified teacher of mathematics, music education, and violin playing at elementary art schools. She completed her doctoral studies in the field of music theory and history at the Institute of Musicology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava. In 2014, she was awarded the academic title of Associate Professor (Docent) in the field of Aesthetics, with a habilitation lecture titled Problémy estetiky v prácach slovenských muzikológov, teoretikov a historikov hudby v 20. storočí (Problems of Aesthetics in the Works of Slovak Musicologists, Theorists, and Historians of Music in the 20th Century). 

Since 2008, she has worked at the Institute of Aesthetics and Art Culture at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prešov. In 2014, she became its director and associate professor. She teaches theoretical subjects focused on the history and theory of music, musical aesthetics, and interpretive issues.

Her scientific research focuses on the relationship between history, theory, and aesthetics of music; on the history of Slovak music aesthetics (monograph: Vývoj hudobnoestetického myslenia na Slovensku v 20. storočí, The Development of Music-Aesthetic Thought in Slovakia in the 20th Century, 2013); on the early history of regional musical culture; on music-historical studies of modern Slovak music (monographs: Ladislav Burlas, 2002; Ladislav Burlas a slovenská hudobná kultúra, Ladislav Burlas and Slovak Musical Culture, 2017); on theoretical and methodological issues (monograph: Slovo o umení bez slov. Hudobnoestetické a interdisciplinárne úvahy, A Word About Art Without Words. Music-Aesthetic and Interdisciplinary Reflections, 2009); and on methodological questions of music presentation and reception (monographs: K súvzťažnosti a interpretácii hudby a iných umeleckých médií, On the Correlation and Interpretation of Music and Other Artistic Media, 2011; Aktuálne otázky súčasnej hudobnej estetiky 21. storočia, Current Issues in Contemporary Music Aesthetics of the 21st Century, 2020).

Slávka Kopčáková is a member of several research teams and a principal investigator of grant projects. From 2013 to 2016, she coordinated the international project European Commission – Lifelong Learning Programme – Comenius "European Music Portfolio – Maths," where she is a member of the Steering Group and the Board of Experts. She is a member of professional associations such as the European Network for the Philosophy of Music, International Association for Aesthetics, Slovak Association for Aesthetics, Czech Society for Musicology, and the Súzvuk Music Society in Prešov. She is also a founding member of the Society for Aesthetics in Slovakia (2011). She participates in various academic committees, editorial boards (Hudební výchova, Kultura, umění a výchova, Ars Inter Culturas, Slovenská hudba, and others), and scientific councils.

In 2013, she lectured at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, and in 2017, she completed a research residency at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She also participated in a Staff Erasmus+ mobility at the Institut für musikpädagogische Forschung, Musikdidaktik und Elementares Musizieren (Institute for Music Pedagogical Research, Music Didactics, and Elementary Music-Making in Vienna, 2019). She has taken part in several international creative workshops in Germany, Spain, and Romania.

Slávka Kopčáková has extensive artistic and pedagogical experience in music education and professional performance. She occasionally performs as a chamber and orchestral violinist and works as a music critic. For her work, she has received several awards and letters of appreciation.