Wiłkomirski, Alfred
Wiłkomirska Wanda, *11 January 1929 Warsaw, †1 May 2018 Warsaw, Polish violinist and teacher. She studied with her father, Alfred Wiłkomirski (from the age of 5), E. Umińska and T. Wroński; in 1947, she graduated from the State Higher School of Music in Łódź in the violin class of I. Dubiska. She completed additional studies at the music academy in Budapest with E. Zathureczky (diploma in 1950) and privately with H. Szeryng in Paris (1959). She was a laureate of international music competitions, including: in Geneva (1946, 2nd prize), the J.S. Bach Competition in Leipzig (1950, 4th prize) and the H. Wieniawski Competition in Poznań (1952, 2nd prize). Founding member of the Association of Polish Artists and Musicians (since 1956).
At the age of 7, she made her stage debut with a sonata by W.A. Mozart. In 1945, she began her permanent solo and chamber concert activities. In 1955–82, she was a soloist of the National Philharmonic, with which she went on numerous artistic journeys from 1959. With a tour of the United States in 1961, she began her great international career. In 1965, she made her first tour of South America, and in 1969–83, she visited Australia four times. She has performed in 50 countries around the world with the best orchestras (including the Chicago Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Gewandhaus Orchestra, and Halle Orchestra) and conductors (J. Barbirolli, L. Bernstein, O. Klemperer, W. Sawallisch, K. Masur, Z. Mechta et al.); she played, among others, at concerts inaugurating the opening of the National Philharmonic (1955), the Sydney Opera House (1973), and the Barbican Hall in London (1976); in total, she gave over 3,000 concerts. As a chamber musician, she has performed, among others, from 1945 in the Wiłkomirski Trio, from 1979 in the Polish Trio (with A. Ratusiński and J. Klock), also with M. Argerich, M. Maisky and G. Kremer. She took part in numerous contemporary music festivals and was a highly rated interpreter. She repeatedly participated in the concerts of the Warsaw Autumn Festival, where she gave many first performances, including the Violin Concerto No. 5 by G. Bacewicz (1955), Expressions by T. Baird (1959), Dialogues by A. Bloch (1966), Violin Concerto by W. Kotoński (2000); she was also the first performer of K. Penderecki’s Capriccio (Donaueschingen 1967). She was an outstanding interpreter of K. Szymanowski’s works. She has recorded approximately 60 albums, among others, for the Polskie Nagrania label (including 1956, Nocturne and Tarantella and Myths, with J. Szamotulska, in 1961 and 1980 Violin Concerto No. 1 and No. 2 with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by W. Rowicki, 1980 Romance in D major Op. 26 and Sonata in D minor, with T. Chmielewski), Hungaroton, Naxos, Philips, DGG, EMI, Connoisseur Society. Since 1989, she was playing the Petrus Guarnerius violin from 1734.
From 1983, Wiłkomirska conducted teaching activities: until 1998, she was a professor of violin class at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Heidelberg-Mannheim; in 1999 she became a lecturer at the Sydney Conservatory, where she lived since 2004. From 1983 she conducted summer courses in the interpretation of violin music in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, and Australia; since 1996, Solo and Chamber Music Interpretation Courses, initiated by Wiłkomirska, have been held in Poland, devoted to the works of K. Szymanowski (initially in Zakopane, then in Radziejowice and Jadwisin). In 2006 and 2011, Wiłkomirska founded an award for the best performance of K. Szymanowski’s works at the 13th and 19th International H. Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań. She was a juror in many international competitions, including the H. Wieniawski Competition in Poznań (1981, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 – vice-chairman of the jury), K. Lipiński and H. Wieniawski Competition in Lublin (1994 – jury chairman, 2006), P. Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1998), B. Britten Competition in London (2004), as well as violin competitions in Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Japan and Australia. In 2008, a film about Wiłkomirska was made – Ja wam to zagram [“I’ll Play it for You], directed by Ch.K. Jezior. In 2009, special concerts were held in Warsaw and Sydney to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Wiłkomirska’s birth. She received numerous awards and distinctions, including the State Award 2nd and 1st class (1952 and 1964), the Order of the Banner of Labour 2nd class (1959) and 1st class (1964), Award of the K. Szymanowski Foundation (1997), medal for activities on behalf of the Polish community in Australia (2005), Gold Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis (2009), TVP Polonia award for promoting culture abroad (2012), Commander’s Officer’s Cross and Commander’s Cross with the Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1953, 1981, 2001), honorary doctorate of the Academy of Music in Łódź (2006), honorary citizen of Kalisz (2006) and Świdnik (2012).
Literature: L. Kydryński Wanda Wiłkomirska, Kraków 1960; J. Rawik Maestra. Opowieść o Wandzie Wiłkomirskiej, Łódź 1993.