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Elżbieta Sikora,

composer, b. 20 October, 1943, Lviv. She studied sound engineering at the Higher State School of Music in Warsaw (now the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music) under Antoni Karużas and, between 1968-1970, electroacoustic music under Pierre Schaeffer and François Bayle (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) in Paris.

After having returned to Warsaw, she studied composition under Tadeusz Baird and Zbigniew Rudziński at the Higher State School of Music in Warsaw. In 1973, with Krzysztof Knittel and Wojciech Michniewski, she organised the KEW composers group which played in Poland, Sweden, Austria and Germany. 

Later she took part in a computer music course at IRCAM and studied under Betsy Jolas. Having got a scholarship of the French government, the City of Mannheim and the Kościuszko Foundation, she studied under John Chowning at the CCRMA - Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Stanford University, California. In 1999, she gained the title of doctor of composition at the Music Academy in Wrocław

She taught at the Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée,  University of Chicago, at the composition couses in Gdańsk, Munich, Hamburg and Ulm and, in 1985-2008, she lectured electro-acoustic music composition at the Conservatory and the École européenne supérieure de l’image in Angoulême. 

Since 1981, she has lived in France, being still involved in music life in Poland. She is a member of the Polish Composers' Union (since 1978) and visiting professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. In 2011-2016, she was artistic director of the Musica Electronica Nova festival in Wrocław.

Utwory Elżbiety Sikory prezentowane były m.in. na „Warszawskiej Jesieni”„Poznańskiej Wiośnie Muzycznej”, Avignon Festival, Festival Estival w Paryżu, „Syntèse” w Bourges, Festival ICMC w Bukareszcie, Brighton L’Espace du Son, Festival Acousmatique de Bruxelles, „Fylkingen” w Stockholmie, Dresden Music Festspiele, Braunschweig Festival, Berlin Festspiele, Alexandria Festival of the Arts, Bath – Newcastle Festival, Heidelberg New Music Festival, Antidogma Musica w Torino, Festival International de Musica Electroacustica w Hawanie, Seoul International Computer Music Festival w Korei Południowej, EMF Festival New York, International Festival of Today’s Music w Nowym Jorku. Wykonywały je m.in. zespoły Teatru Wielkiego – Opery Narodowej w WarszawieWarszawskiej Opery Kameralnej, Ballet of Monte Carlo, Annabella Gonzales Danse Theater, Centre Pompidou, Orkiestra Filharmonii NarodowejOrkiestra Filharmonii PoznańskiejOrkiestra Filharmonii BałtyckiejNarodowa Orkiestra Symfoniczna Polskiego Radia, Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Poitou-Charentes, Orchestre Stadt Ulm, Kwartet Wilanów, Camerata Varsovia, Ensemble Itinéraire, Ensemble 2E2M, Ensemble Aventure, Heidelberg Festival Ensemble, Danel Quartet, pod batutą takich dyrygentów, jak Antoni Wit, Michel Tabachnik, Pascal Verrot, Wojciech MichniewskiJacek KasprzykGabriel ChmuraTadeusz Wojciechowski, Annick Minck, Jean Thorel, James-Alain Gaehres. Zostały też nagrane przez Polskie Radio, WRD i Radio France.

Elżbieta Sikora's compotions were performed at numerous festivals: "Warsaw Autumn” International Festival of Contemporary Music, "Poznań Music Spring”, Avignon Festival, Festival Estival in Paris, „Syntèse” in Bourges, Festival ICMC in Bucharest, Brighton L’Espace du Son, Festival Acousmatique de Bruxelles, "Fylkingen” in Stockholm, Dresden Music Festspiele, Braunschweig Festival, Berlin Festspiele, Alexandria Festival of the Arts, Bath – Newcastle Festival, Heidelberg New Music Festival, Antidogma Musica in Torino, Festival International de Musica Electroacustica in Hawana, Seoul International Computer Music Festival, South Corea, EMF Festival New York, International Festival of Today’s Music in New York. Her works have been played by the ensemble of the Grand Theatre - National Opera in WarsawWarsaw Chamber Opera, Ballet of Monte Carlo, Annabella Gonzales Danse Theater, Centre Pompidou, Warsaw Philharmonic - National Orchestra of PolandPoznań Philharmonic OrchestraBaltic Philharmonic OrchestraPolish National Radio Syphony Orchestra, Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Poitou-Charentes, Orchestre Stadt Ulm, Wilanów Quartet, Camerata Varsovia, Ensemble Itinéraire, Ensemble 2E2M, Ensemble Aventure, Heidelberg Festival Ensemble, Danel Quartet, under such conductors as Antoni Wit, Michel Tabachnik, Pascal Verrot,Wojciech MichniewskiJacek KasprzykGabriel ChmuraTadeusz Wojciechowski, Annick Minck, Jean Thorel, James-Alain Gaehres. Her compositions have been recorded by the Polish Radio, WRD and Radio France.

Elżbieta Sikora has awarded with numerous prizes and medals. For the Ariadne (1977), she won the 2nd prize at the Carl Maria von Weber Competition in Drezden in 1978, She was awarded at the Competition of Electroacoustic Music in Bourges in 1980 for Lettres à M. pour bande (1980) and Barren Land (1979). In 1982, for Guernica - hommage à Pablo Picasso (1975-1979) she got the 1st prize at the Female Composers’ Competition in Mannheim. In 1994, she gained two SACEM awards: Prix pédagogique for Chant' Europe (1993) and - for her entire artistic work - Prix du printemps. In 1996, she got he award of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques for the opera Heart Extractor (1984-1986). In 1997, she was honoured with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic. In 2002, she received the Special Distinction of the  l'Académie du Disque Lyrique in Paris for Le Chant de Salomon (1992) and Eine Rose als Stütze (2000), released on the album Chant du Monde / Harmondia Mundi. In 2004, from the French Minister of Culture ,she got the highest French distinction - Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2008, in a poll of the "Gazeta Wyborcza" daily she was awarded the "Sztorm Roku" prize for Oliwa Concerto (2007) in the category: classical music. For her opera "Madame Curie", she got "Splendor gedanensis” award of the City of Gdańsk in the cathegory: culture, and Pomerania Artistic Award (2012). In June 2013, an audio-visual recording of that opera (performed by the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk conducted  by Wojciech Michniewski and  directed by Marek Weiss) gained Orphée du Prestige Lyrique de l'Europe de l'Academie du Disque Lyrique. W 2013, she received the Annual Award of the Polish Composers' Union for "outstanding composition output, the opera Madame Curie and her work as cultural activities organiser”. In the same year, she was honoured by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Polish Rapublic with the Bronze Medal for Merin to Culture - Gloria Artis.

updated: February 2016 (wa), March 2017 (iz)

Artist's website: www.elzbietasikora.com

 

literatura wybrana

Szukam nowych brzmień. Z Elżbietą Sikorą rozmawia Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, "Ruch Muzyczny" 2009 nr 12, s. 12-13