Kaliszewska Jadwiga, *15 September 1936 Warsaw, †18 March 2012 Poznań, Polish violinist and teacher. At the age of 6, she began studying the violin, first under K. Gulanowski, then in Krakow under W. Niemczyk, S. Tawroszewicz, and E. Umińska. Kaliszewska graduated from the State Higher School of Music (now the Academy of Music) in 1959. She improved her skills at master classes, including those conducted by M. Wajman in Weimar and R. Principe in Venice. During her studies in Kraków, she made her debut with the Kraków Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of A. Malawski. In 1962, she received a distinction at the 4th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań. She gave concerts as a soloist and chamber musician. Her repertoire, apart from the canon of violin literature, included mainly Polish contemporary music, e.g., works by K. Szymanowski, G. Bacewicz, S. Kisielewski, A. Malawski. Furthermore, she has premiered a number of works, including at the editions of the Poznań Music Spring Festival. Kaliszewska was a respected performer of early music – for many years, she played in an early music ensemble at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Poznań. She has made a number of radio and television recordings, recorded a CD of the violin concerto Op. 12 by K. Meyer and the first recording in the history of the concerto for violin, 2 pianos and percussion by F. Dąbrowski (with the Poznań Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra conducted by R. Czajkowski).
From 1958, Kaliszewska was a teacher at the State Secondary School of Music in Krakow, and from 1961 State Higher School of Music (now Academy of Music) in Poznań, where she received the title of professor in 1975. From 1970 to 2006, she headed the Department of String Instruments. At the same time, she has taught violin at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz from 1995. Her students included B. Bryła, B. Nizioł, A. Reszniak, J. Nadrzycki, and P. Milewski. In 1990, she co-initiated and co-authored the concept of the H. Wieniawski Secondary Music School in Poznań – the first so-called “School of Talents” in Poland, intended for young people with exceptional musical talent. She participated in juries in national and international violin and violin-making competitions, e.g., in Poznań (H. Wieniawski violin competition, 1972–2001), Vienna and Markneukirchen. She collaborated with the H. Wieniawski Music Society, where she served as president from 1993 to 1996. In 2007 she received the title of doctora honoris causa of Academy of Music in Poznań.
Kaliszewska was honoured with the Knight’s Cross, Officer’s Cross (1995), and Commander’s Cross (2005) of the Order of Polonia Restituta, as well as the First degree Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2006).
