Wanda Wiłkomirska

Wanda Wiłkomirska (11 January 1929 – 1 May 2018) was a Polish violinist and academic teacher. She was known for both the classical repertoire and for her interpretation of 20th-century music, having received two Polish State Awards for promoting Polish music to the world as well as other awards for her contribution to music. She gave world premiere performances of numerous contemporary works, including music by Tadeusz Baird and Krzysztof Penderecki. Wiłkomirska performed on a violin crafted by Pietro Guarneri in 1734 in Venice. She taught at the music academies of Mannheim and Sydney.

Biography Born in Warsaw on 11 January 1929, and studied with Irena Dubiska at the Academy of Music in Łódź,

In 1955, Wanda Wiłkomirska performed at the inauguration of the rebuilt Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, with the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, playing Karol Szymanowski's First Violin Concerto under Witold Rowicki. Stanisław Wisłocki and Antoni Wit. She held the position for 22 years. the Lincoln Center, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Royal Festival Hall, the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and the Berlin Philharmonie. She performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Berliner Philharmonic, with such celebrated conductors as: Paul Kletzki, Pierre Boulez, Paul Hindemith, Otto Klemperer, Zubin Mehta, for which she made 12 albums, some with the pianist Antonio Barbosa. Two of these won awards, namely "Best of the Year" (1972) and the "Grand Prix du Disque" (1974). She also recorded with Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Philips, Naxos, and Polskie Nagrania.

Her recordings include the works of Accolay, Bacewicz, Bach, Baird, Bargielski, Bartok, Beethoven, Augustyn Bloch, Brahms, Bujarski, Dancla, Franck, Handel, Karlowicz, Khachaturian, Kreisler, Martini, Mussorgsky, Pallasz, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Shostakovich, Szymanowski, Tchaikovsky, Viotti and Wieniawski.

Her recordings, mostly of chamber music, include: Wanda Wiłkomirska plays Polish Music, chamber music by Paderewski, Bacewicz, Zarzycki und Bargielski, with Paul Dam, Ambitus, amb97830 Prokofieff: Two Violin Sonatas, with Ann Schein, piano, Connoisseur Society, CD 4079 Works by Wieniawski, Lipinski and Bacewicz with Jadwiga Szamotulska, Gambit 1003–1 Britten Violin Concerto, with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Witold Rowicki, 1967, Orchestral Concert CDs, CD12/2011 They had two sons, one of whom emigrated to Australia.

Her mother, Dorota Wiłkomirska (née Dvoira Temkin, 1901–1986), was a pianist and music teacher, who also published several note collections for children.

Wiłkomirska died on 1 May 2018 in Warsaw, aged 89.

Honours Polish State Awards (1953,