Jolanta Stępień (d. Markowska),
composer and teacher; b. 15th June 1955 in Łódź. She graduated from the State Higher School of Music in Łódź in music theory under the supervision of Franciszek Wesołowski (1978) and in composition under Bronisław Kazimierz Przybylski (1980). She is also a graduate of the Pedagogical College in music theory (1977). In 1979-2002 she actively participated in many workshops and seminars on instrumental composition, electronic music, ear training and piano improvisation. In 1997-99 she took a course under the supervision of Michał Talma-Sutt and Jacek Partyka at the Electronic Music Computer Studio of the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź. She has also consulted her work with such composers as Lars Gunnar-Bodin (Sweden), Szabolcs Esztenyi and Marian Borkowski.
As a composer, she examines the possibilities of organizing sound material and musical form towards minimal music. She is looking for new solutions in the field of musical expression and shaping of orchestral material. She writes symphonic, instrumental, chamber and choral music. Her works are performed at contemporary music concerts, locally in Łódź, most often as part of the "Musica Moderna" sessions organised by the Academy of Music in Łódź. She also composes pedagogical works, which are incorporated in the teaching programmes of music schools and obligatory programmes of national piano and accordion competitions for children and youth.
In addition to composing, she is also active as a teacher. In the years 1976-2011 she taught piano improvisation and introduction to composition and she was an accompanist at the Henryk Wieniawski Primary and Secondary Music School in Łódź. Her pedagogical interests include influencing the musical development of children and youth through creative activities and searching for a new teaching system that uses the achievements of 20th and 21st century music.
In 1980-85 she worked intensively on social and organisational development of young composers’ movement. She was a chairwoman of the Polish Composers' Union Youth Circle (1981-83) and a Board Member of the Łódź Branch of the “Jeunesses Musicales de Pologne” Polish Music Youth Association (1980-85).
She was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit of the President of the Republic of Poland (2005) and the Gold Medal of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2011) for her pedagogical work.
updated: 2020 (ac)
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