It is our deep sorrow to report that our friend and former PMC librarian, Dr. Barbara Zakrzewska, passed away in Poznań on November 30, 2023 at the age of 77.
Barbara was born in Poznań in 1946. A woman of many talents, she completed her undergraduate studies in composition, finished her postgraduate studies in library and information science, and received her doctorate in history. She was a dedicated scholar, researcher, and a long-term supporter of Polish organizations in the US, as well as the recipient of many scholarships and fellowships. She composed 65 works and released over 80 publications, including eight books–see her PMC composer page for a selected listing.
As a musicologist and librarian, Barbara worked at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań from 1972 to 1998. Then she became a Kościuszko Foundation Fellow to catalog collections at the USC Polish Music Center, where she served as the staff librarian until 2002. At the PMC she donated a collection of her original scores to our Manuscript Collection, including her string quartet Na mlecznej drodze [On the Milky Way] and Miazga [Pulp] for orchestra. She also published a series of excellent essays, and contributed in significant ways to many of the articles in our Polish Music Journal.
Barbara will be greatly missed, but her legacy of scholarship lives on at the PMC.
[Source: polmic.pl]