World renowned Polish harpsichord player Elżbieta Chojnacka passed away on May 28, 2017 at the age of 77. Chojnacka graduated from Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Muzyczna in Warsaw and then studied in Paris with Aimée van de Viele, who was a student of Wanda Landowska. After her studies, Chojnacka settled in Paris where she started her brilliant international career by giving the first recital of contemporary music on a harpsichord in 1970. In 1971 she recorded her first album, “Clavecin 2000,” on the Philips label.
Elżbieta Chojnacka recorded albums containing the complete harpsichord works of György Ligeti and Maurice Ohana. She was a regular guest of contemporary music festivals including Warsaw Autumn where she gave multiple performances. Elżbieta Chojnacka’s playing inspired several composers who wrote and dedicated works for her. Among them there are compositions for harpsichord solo and with electronics, chamber music and orchestral pieces by such famous Polish composers as Paweł Szymański, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Zygmunt Krauze.
For over 11 years, Elżbieta Chojnacka had been teaching in famous Mozarteum University in Salzburg. Among prizes she had received were: ZKP award, French Ordre National du Mérite, and the Polish government’s gold medal for merits in culture, “Gloria Artis”.
Funeral ceremonies will be held in Paris on June 7 at the St. Suplice Church and Père Lachaise cemetery.
[Source: polmic.pl]