Wiłkomirski, Alfred
Wiłkomirski Michał, *27 February 1902 Moscow, †13 December 1989 Podkowa Leśna, Polish violinist, violist and teacher, son of Alfred. From the age of 6, he learned to play the violin under his father. From 1919, he performed in Poland – with his siblings in the Wiłkomirski Trio and as a soloist in the Warsaw Philharmonic, where he performed violin concertos by J. Brahms (debut 1 October 1919), M. Karłowicz (1922) and L. van Beethoven (1924); moreover, he gave several recitals in Warsaw every year. In November 1925, thanks to B. Huberman, he stayed on a one-year scholarship in Paris, where he studied at the Institut de Violon L. Capeta with S. Joachim-Chaigneau. In May 1927, he left for the United States and stayed in Chicago until 1941. He took a job as a teacher at Sherwood School, then at the Chicago Musical College and the music department of one of the local universities. He was also the concertmaster of the Chicago radio chamber orchestra, and performed as a soloist and chamber musician, among others, for 10 years in the Russian Trio; he received good reviews in Chicago newspapers and was considered a world-class violinist. In 1941, due to overwork and extreme exhaustion, at the advice of doctors, he changed his lifestyle and environment. He moved his family to Texas, bought a farm and became a rancher. In 1945, he declined an offer to become the first violinist in the Pro Arte Quartet, but he sometimes performed as a soloist with a radio chamber orchestra in Chicago. In Mission, Texas, he organised and led a 40-piece amateur orchestra, giving concerts in cities along the Rio Grande. He also founded and ran a musical theatre in Mission. In 1957, due to the bankruptcy of his farm, he settled in Houston and resumed his musical activities. From 1958 to 1961, he taught at the music department of the University of Houston, and from 1959 to 1971, he played in the Houston Symphony Orchestra, initially as a violinist, then as a violist, and in the Houston String Quartet. In August 1965, he came to Poland and recorded for the Polish Radio with Maria and Kazimierz Wiłkomirski Trio élégiaque in D minor Op. 9 by S. Rachmaninoff. In the 1966/67 season, he returned to the country and performed as a soloist in the National Philharmonic and the Szczecin Philharmonic, as well as at recitals in Warsaw, Kalisz and Białystok. The Wiłkomirski Trio gave concerts at the National Philharmonic, the Lublin Philharmonic, the PWSM in Łódź and Wrocław. In 1971, Michał Wiłkomirski retired. Progressive hand paresis prevented him from further performing. In 1972, he moved permanently to Poland and settled in Podkowa Leśna. His health no longer allowed him to join Polish musical life.
Literature: K. Wiłkomirski Mój brat Michał, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1987 No. 5 and 6.