Chojnacka Elżbieta, *10 September 1939 Warsaw, †28 May 2017 Paris, Polish harpsichordist and teacher. She earned a degree from State Higher School of Music in Warsaw in the piano class of M. Trombini-Kazuro in 1962. She began to learn to play harpsichord in Paris with A. van de Viele. In 1968 she was awarded with the First Prize in the chamber music category in the International Competition of Vercelli. She made her debut as a harpsichordist in Paris in 1970, where she settled permanently. She performed recitals and chamber music concerts, as well as in symphonic concerts, including with the Cleveland Symphony, London Sinfonietta, Minneapolis Symphony and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. She worked with radio and television stations. She recorded many albums of classical and contemporary music, for Erato, Wergo, Adda, Auvidis, Polskie Nagrania. She achieved her greatest prominence as an interpreter of contemporary music. She gave premieres of harpsichord works by more than 80 composers, including I. Xenakis, G. Ligeti, F.-B. Mâche, M. Ohana, M. Nyman, F. Donatoni, S. Bussotti, S. Gubajdulina, C. Hallfter, W. Kotoński, K. Meyer, H.M. Górecki, Z. Krauze, P. Szymański, H. Kulenty. From 1995–2006 she was a professor of interpretation of contemporary harpsichord music at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.
She received numerous distinctions and awards, including the SACEM award for her interpretation of new French music, the French The Order of the Legion of Honor, the “Orpheus” award for the best performance of a work by a Polish composer at the “Warsaw Autumn” festival, the Grand Prix du Disque Académie Charles Cros for her recording of all of Maurice Ohana’s works for harpsichord, the award of the A. Tansmana’s Association for the Promotion of Culture, Annual Award of Polish Composers, gold medal for Merit to Culture “Gloria Artis”, and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
Since 2018, Centre for Contemporary Harpsichord Music has been operating in Rybna near Tarnowskie Góry, and starting from 2021, it organises the annual E. Chojnacka Festival.
