He has just graduated from the Telecommunications master's programme at our Faculty, he presides the WUST Orchestra, and before that he used to be chairman of the WUST Student Parliament Board. For over a decade, he has been playing the trumpet and arguing that music at a technical university is nothing out of the ordinary. Piotr Gabrysch is our next guest in the #JestemzWIT #JestemzPWr cycle.

His music adventure began in primary school with the guitar. After six years of studying at the music school, he decided to try something different and chose the trumpet. Piotr still plays in a wind orchestra in his hometown of Jemielnica, and when he started studying at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology five years ago, he also joined the WUST Orchestra.

“I didn't want to waste the time and effort I had previously put into music. Wrocław was a new place for me, so I was looking for a band to join. So I ended up in the Wrocław University of Science and Technology Orchestra,” he explains.

Today he is its president. And it is not, by the way, his first term – he previously led the orchestra in the academic year 2022/2023, and after finishing his activities in the WUST Student Government, he resumed this function in September 2025.

An orchestra is first of all a team

Piotr explains that playing in an orchestra is significantly different from solo performances. Each musician is responsible for their own part, but at the same time must listen to the others and be an element of the whole.

“It's a completely different world. In an orchestra, you’re not the most important - you're a part of the team. You must adapt and pay attention, because you don't want to make mistakes that cancel the effort of others,” he says.

The Wrocław Tech Orchestra is not a band of professional musicians. It is composed of, among others, students, graduates, employees, as well as individuals staying at Wrocław universities as part of international exchanges. The rehearsals are held twice a week.

The orchestra has a goal to perform at least once per semester, with a particularly intense period in the spring-summer season. The musicians perform not only at the university. In recent years, they had concerts for example in Głuchołazy or Łódź.

“We want to go outside the university walls and show that music at a technical university is nothing extraordinary. It is certainly possible,” notes Piotr.

One of his most important memories remains the first concert with the Orchestra in the WUST Auditorium. The performance celebrated the 10th anniversary of the band, and was previously postponed due to the pandemic, but eventually took place in 2023.

“After the concert, we received very good reviews, even comparisons to the orchestra from the National Forum of Music. It was very encouraging and motivating for us,” he remembers.

The year 2026 marks the 15th anniversary of the Orchestra. The team is also working on additional projects. One of the plans for 2027 is a concert synchronized with animations presented during the Wrocław Multimedia Fountain show at the Centennial Hall.

“We would like to become known not only to the academic community, but also to the residents of Wrocław. We are looking for new concert formats and ways to reach our audience,” says the orchestra president.

From organizing events to a career at the Student Parliament

Music is just one way for Piotr to self-fulfil at the university. As he admits, he has always been involved in volunteering and organizing events, so when he joined the university, he quickly became interested in student self-government activities.

He started working at the Culture and Projects Commission operating under the Board of the WUST Student Parliament. First, he was mainly involved in organizing event logistics and finances, then he became a member in charge of training, and later a member of the Board of the Student Parliament for Culture and Projects. The next natural step was to run with his team in the elections for the self-government authorities. After winning, Piotr became the chairman of the WUST Student Parliament.

“It was a very intensive time. Such a position is essentially full-time job, only unpaid. The role of the chairman at such a large university requires coordinating a team, but also maintaining constant contact with students, administration, and university authorities,” he explains.

During his term in the self-government, he was involved in organizing the Juwenalia Parade in 2024 and the Juwenalia of Wrocław University of Science and Technology near the campus on Długa Street in 2025.

As he admits, his duties took up most of his time, but they gave him experience in team management, organizing large projects, and collaborating with various university units.

“I was once wondering why I never joined any student research club. I was simply more interested in the organization of events, self-government, and the opportunity to participate in the university's life from this perspective,” he explains.

Two fields of study and telecommunications

Piotr just graduated from the Telecommunications programme in July. In his master's thesis, he determined the direction of arrival of a radio signal using an antenna with switched radiation pattern in the azimuth plane. His first-cycle programme at our Faculty was Information Technology in Automation Systems. His class was the first class of the newly opened field of study. What's next?

“Starting in September, I will be working on a project with Prof. Piotr Słobodzian related to the topic: Detection and neutralization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) using a High Power Microwave directional pulse generator. Prof. Słobodzian is also persuading me to pursue a Ph.D. It will be definitely hard for me to depart from the university and the Faculty,” he admits.

Outside the university, he still plays the trumpet with the Jemielnica wind orchestra, and performs during reviews and local festivals. A few years ago, he also started learning to play the accordion. For almost a decade, he has also been involved with the Volunteer Fire Department in Baruta – his hometown. Privately, he also enjoys hiking in the mountains with his girlfriend Marta.